In my experience, getting a tutor is helpful for anyone at any level, from elementary school all the way through graduate and post-graduate studies. Whether you’re struggling with content or you just want some outside insights, a tutor can prove profoundly helpful!

Not at all. Indeed, it’s exactly the opposite. The only bad student is the one who doesn’t get the help he or she needs! Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, myself included. Being aware of them is a sign of mental and emotional maturity!

 I’d suggest a fairly consistent schedule, whether it’s once a week, once every two weeks, etc. Establishing a regular routine is helpful in many ways, and assists anyone in developing personal discipline and comfort with the subject matter.

Well, that depends on a lot of things. Many people of Irish ancestry run into a brick wall because many of Ireland’s records were destroyed in the Irish Civil War. But even then, there are ways to verify things and get to the next generation, then the next, then the next. Some people can verify their ancestry all the way back to the 10th Century! Other people might only be able to get results going back a few generations. It all depends on how well towns, cities, states, and countries took and preserved records. But sometimes we get really lucky, and find far-flung cousins who have documentation that’s not part of the “official” record. I’d suggest a fairly consistent schedule, whether it’s once a week, once every two weeks, etc. Establishing a regular routine is helpful in many ways, and assists anyone in developing personal discipline and comfort with the subject matter.

Quite possibly, yes! Not everyone can count “famous” people in their family trees. That being said, though, the further back you go, the more likely you are to find really remarkable people. When I first started my own ancestry research, I didn’t find anyone “famous.” But then I found a random great grandmother whose maiden name was “Delano.” An hour later, I confirmed that I’m a (distant) cousin of President Franklin Roosevelt! Persistence and verification can yield wonderful results!

I only document people if I’m absolutely certain that they are part of a given family. Sometimes, documentation can be sparse, but by immersing myself in the history of a given region or people, I make educated guesses that, more often than not, fill in the gaps of missing documentation. But at the end of the day, as an historian, I don’t rely on guesses. Confirmation, confirmation, confirmation.