Hi, I’m Francesca, the educator behind The Chiral Center. I’ve taught organic chemistry to more than 1,000 students at Hunter College and spent more than 2,000 hours tutoring privately—and the subject never gets boring! With a subject as abstract as organic chemistry, my favorite part is still the moment something clicks—when a reaction begins to make sense and a student can both visualize what’s happening and explain the “why” for themselves…and maybe even to their classmates.

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Though I’m no longer spending my days at Hunter—I’m currently in medical school and applying for psychiatry residency!—teaching organic chemistry has been more than just a pit stop on my path to medicine. Teaching has been a passion throughout my professional life, from curatorial research at The Met to leading professional kitchens in the East Village. Both roles emphasized the power of knowing your audience. Is there anything more fundamental to teaching? Across those settings, I’ve always enjoyed finding ways to make complex ideas understandable to a broad audience, building both knowledge and confidence. Along the way, I want to make the subject feel approachable and fun, so that working through a reaction becomes a puzzle you’re curious to solve.