This post was first published on Upswing's blog on May 20, 2020. I started peer tutoring at the Writing Center when I was a college student and thought tutoring was just something that paid the bills while I was going to school. I quickly learned, however, that tutoring was (and is) so much more for me! Even though I was getting my degree in English, I wasn’t planning on becoming a teacher. It wasn’t until I took some time away from school and tutoring that I realized how important helping other writers was to me. I switched gears and added teaching as my emphasis and specialized in English to Speakers of Other Languages. For a year or so, I taught full time as a college instructor, and I was happy. But there was something missing… Maybe I was experiencing teacher burnout, but I knew that nothing gave me greater joy than helping writers identify their own strengths and weaknesses in their writing, think critically about their ideas, organization and writing processes, and improve not only their drafts, but also themselves as writers. I had to remember what had gotten me into teaching in the first place. I decided to cut back on my teaching load and started tutoring again… but this time with Upswing! Coaching for Upswing is great because we’re contracted with a lot of schools, so the opportunities for me to reach struggling writers is far reaching. This is important to me because I had cheerleaders and mentors that helped me get through college, and I don’t know where I’d be without them. Recently, I decided to explore my own writing abilities. I wrote a book! It took me four years to write the first draft, but I did it. Now I’m rewriting, getting feedback from others in the writing community, and improving it, which is basically what students do at a smaller scale when they complete their writing assignments. It’s no wonder that through my writing journey, I’ve gained even more empathy for struggling writers. Writing is tough, y’all!
So is math, science, and learning a foreign language… or any subject in college for that matter. Everyone could use a mentor, coach, and cheerleader to get them through tough times. That’s what Upswing is all about, and I’m proud to play my small part in it.
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