My academic weakness comes in the form of math. Now, I never had a true problem with math, and to be completely honest, I always excelled in it, but it usually took a great deal of work on my part to do well in it because I wanted to understand every aspect.
When I started taking more advanced math classes, I began to realize that in order to fully comprehend what I was doing and why, I needed help outside of the classroom. In high school, this led me to my math teachers, but in college, I turned to the math tutoring center to work one-on-one with a math major. I honestly only ever needed to go one time (mainly because I took the easiest math classes Penn State offered), but I do remember the tutor being very helpful.
I think the most influential part of that tutoring session was when the tutor had to take a minute to relearn/review what I was asking him to help me with. What I was studying was pretty rudimentary in the math world, and the tutor having to review this basic math showed me that even teachers forget things (easy things even) and that it's okay to let down your guard when you truly don't know something. In the end, I was very glad that the tutor was honest with me about not knowing what I was doing because, after he reviewed it, he was better able to truly teach me.
I think this idea is particularly crucial for us as writing tutors. When we don't know something or don't know how to explain something, we need to be honest with our tutees about our lack of knowledge and then take the time to discover the answer with the tutee. It's much better for us to admit our shortcomings and search for the answer than it is for us to deceive a tutee into believing everything we say.
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