Jasmine Darmadi

“I was born and raised in Eugene,” says Jasmine Darmadi, now a senior at South Eugene High School. “My mom immigrated from China and my dad from Indonesia. They met at the University of Oregon, where she studied business and he studied computer science.”

During three years of grade school at McCornack Elementary in west Eugene, where she was often the only person of color in the room, Darmadi felt the weight of microaggression, much of it unintended. “Then we moved to south Eugene when my dad got a job at the UO,” she continues. “I noticed a cultural difference that includes academics and being treated differently.”

She completed grade school at Camas Ridge Elementary, then middle school at Roosevelt. “During the pandemic, it’s been tough for many students,” she reports, “to have motivation for homework after online classes from 8:30 am to 1 or 2 pm. You had to stay tuned in the whole time except for a 10-minute break here and there. I fell behind, but luckily I had my sister Megan, who is four years older, to help me out.”

She also started reading online news reports about how online schooling had negatively affected BIPOC and low-income students. “Now more than ever, these students need help,” she says, “and they don’t all have someone like my sister. It’s easier to understand something when you’re being helped by someone of a similar age group. That’s what inspired me to start Hygge Tutoring.”

Hygge, pronounced hue-gah, is a Danish term that denotes a feeling of well-being. “The first thing I did was to contact the 4J school district’s equity and inclusion team,” she explains. “A member of the team, Alma Reyes Guillen, advertised on elementary and middle school websites to find students who could use free tutoring services.”

Darmadi herself was the very first tutor. The second was a girl from Los Angeles who started a Hygge Tutoring branch in that city, and the HT community has grown from there. “Last year, we had about 10 tutors in Eugene,” she says, “and 75 tutors in eight states around the country. For a while I was a tutor, but now I am an administrator. I’ve learned a lot about the components that create a successful organization.”

Find out more at hyggetutoring@gmail.com, @hyggetutoring on Instagram or at linktr.ee/hyggetutoring.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.

None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!