Troy started a family at age 24 that now, decades later, includes two children who are now young adults. He was fortunate enough to have worked closely with his daughter while studying for the SATs. She had tried to do it initially by herself, but after getting a lower-than-expected score, she decided to get one-on-one tutoring with her father.
Troy recognized early on that she was making basic arithmetic mistakes, which represented a driving source of her lower scores.
Inspiration hit Troy like a lightning bolt on that day. He spent hours developing useful techniques to improve SAT scores, including finding patterns within the problems and exploiting these patterns to his daughter’s advantage along with a healthy dose of motivational can-do to activate her sense of competitiveness.
He reminded her that on the SATs, you’ll see the patterns repeating themselves. Take enough tests, and you’ll start to recognize these patterns. By going through this process with her carefully,
within a short time, his daughter significantly improved her test scores!
When Troy was young, his father instilled in him a keen competitive spirit. He started out playing several sports, including soccer, baseball, and finally, the sport he fell in love with most– basketball. It was the drive to be a competitor that pushed Troy and motivated him most to excel.
He played basketball for four years in high school. Presently, he enjoys riding his hybrid bicycle on local trails and playing chess in his spare time.
He was fortunate enough to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1993, he received Bachelor of Science degrees in both Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from this elite institution. He later completed a Master of Science degree in Computer Science at the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2004.
Troy discovered an immense love of mathematics along the way. He would not only work on the problems assigned to him but complete every single problem in his textbooks. Each math problem that Troy worked seemed like a mini-competition where the reward was getting the correct answer, which made it worth the pursuit.
It was a combination of love of material, discipline and commitment to studying, positive encouragement from family, competitive spirit, and perseverance that allowed Troy to excel with SAT testing and in his courses in general. This allowed him to accelerate through the various levels of the educational system.
Troy’s illustrious track record includes over 16 years of experience in building and managing a software and systems engineering firm significant revenue over 18+ years, hired hundreds of staff doing work on many projects over the years.
For over three decades, Troy has worked as a lead software engineer on a number of complex engineering projects, all of which have served to robustly sharpen his mind, keep a consistent focus, and create unique solutions to hard analytical problems. Software engineering is a tough field based on analysis, mathematics, patterns, strategy, and discipline – all of which are attributes found in examinations such as the SAT and the ACT.
While doing software development, Troy took a particular interest in applying programmatic solutions to internal corporate business workflow problems. He spearheaded the creation of a handful of value-add software programs that automate key areas that match resumes to jobs. Troy is now using a similar technique to automate critical aspects of the learning experience in examinations like the SAT and ACT in a significant and unique way that brings immediate value to the student.
Troy intends to apply all this experience to Smart Minds Tutoring to make it a leading company that customers will love and appreciate.
Troy will tap into his meticulously acquired knowledge to help students from all backgrounds. By signing up for a Smart Minds course, you’ll benefit from this wealth of knowledge and technique and be able to use it to improve your SAT or ACT score.
Troy knows it’s not just about learning test-taking skills—it’s also about a psychological dimension to prepping for tests that too often gets overlooked. One of the biggest traits a tutor must possess is empathy. This is the only way that a tutor can foster a personal connection with a student.
This is what differentiates Smart Minds Tutoring (SMT) from a sea of cookie-cutter competitors. SMT provides the fuel that elevates an average educational experience into an exceptional one.
