Tutor of the Week: Sam Geffert

Our next Tutor of the Week is Sam Geffert, a secondary education junior with an English concentration and minors in Japanese and ESL.

Sam Geffert

"Before I applied to work as a tutor, I thought that the Writing Center was more of an editing center. After working in the center for two semesters, my perceptions of writing and tutoring have changed drastically. I have learned how to collaborate with students to improve their ability to write rather than simply improving their writing itself. Becoming a tutor has made me become more passionate about the process of writing papers and more excited to teach English at the secondary level. My favorite part of being a tutor is working with international students. I appreciate the opportunity to apply my understanding of TESOL theory to sessions in the Writing Center. More importantly, I love to see the way different cultures respond to the same writing assignment. The opportunity to learn about cultural differences makes me understand my own life and beliefs through new perspectives. It reminds me that we are all more similar than we are different, and we all have something important to share.

"Along with my work in the Writing Center, I privately tutor Japanese and work in a greenhouse over the summer. I am currently preparing to travel to Tokushima, Japan, to tutor English students in Shikoku University’s Writing Center. If money and reality weren’t an issue, I would spend my time traveling and learning new languages. Outside of work, I enjoy napping outside, reading in bed, and rollerblading with my dog. I also enjoy gardening, creative writing, and watching Ancient Aliens on the History channel. In the future, I want to teach English at the secondary level and work with English as a Second Language students."

Tutor of the Week: Sara Houser

Our next Tutor of the Week is Sara Houser, an Elementary Education and English Language Arts senior seeking a minor endorsement in Teaching English as a Second Language.

Sara Houser

"I started working as a tutor in the Writing Center almost three years ago, just after transferring to SVSU. Even before transferring here, I knew that I wanted to work in the Writing Center. I wanted to combine my two passions – teaching and writing – and I knew that this would be the best place to do so, even though I struggled with confidence in my own writing. Working here has allowed me to do this and so much more. Because of my experiences in the writing center, and my collaboration with students and faculty, I have become a better researcher, writer, listener, teacher, and individual, and I have become exponentially more confident in my writing and teaching abilities. I have been involved in research projects, presented my own research at a handful of conferences from the state to international level, facilitated a creative writing camp for middle and high schoolers, and have even presented workshops to prepare future educators for the College of Education Professional Readiness Exam during my time here. I have been challenged to become a better writer and thinker by my peers, both students and other tutors, and continue to push myself in this regard each minute I spend in the writing center. I have learned how to genuinely listen to the concerns of others, and use my passion for teaching to help them, and myself, grow.

"When I am not in the center, I am usually writing lessons for the third grade students I am working with this semester, planning my future classroom, or gathering materials for the elementary students I privately tutor. I spend most of my time ‘in the field’ teaching quirky third graders about mathematics and reading, or preparing for that fieldwork by writing lesson plans and reflections on my teaching practice. My goal is to teach elementary level English language learners here in Michigan after student teaching in the U.S and Costa Rica this upcoming fall. I am currently involved in the College of Education Leadership team, the student chapter of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and Active Minds. In my free time, I like to play video games with my friends, exercise, and spend time walking my puppy Akira while daydreaming about my upcoming (but still quite far off) wedding."

Tutor of the Week: Ky Wojciechowski

Our next Tutor of the Week is Kylie ("Ky") Wojciechowski, a technical writing super senior with a minor in philosophy.

Ky Wojciechowski (Photo by Jamie Loubert)

"Hello! I want to begin by talking a bit about my work at the SVSU Writing Center and then myself – just to humanize the tutor who may one day be sitting across from you.

"Since beginning my work at the SVSU Writing Center in January 2013, I’ve completed more than 975 tutorial sessions – it’s my goal to complete 1,000 before I graduate with my bachelor’s degree in May. I had the uncommon opportunity to begin working at the SVSU Writing Center as a second-semester freshman, so there have been only 15 weeks out of the past 4 1/2 years where the Writing Center was not part of my daily life and thoughts. At some points along that timeline, it would be fair to posit that the Writing Center was my life; it seemed all-encompassing and, in actuality, probably was. From one of my first independent tutorial sessions that lasted 3 hours and required “rescuing” from a senior tutor to the dozen or so conference presentations I’ve delivered based on my research endeavors in venues across the country, from playing a small role in launching Michigan’s first Community Writing Center to developing a web-based resource about the changes made in the eighth edition of MLA that gained traction with instructors at SVSU and other universities around the state, from learning from senior and mentor tutors and later serving in those leadership roles myself, I’ve had an array of valuable experiences with the Writing Center, not the mention those from tutorial sessions themselves. Each student I work with teaches me something new, and – not to be cheesy, but – I can only hope to teach each of them something, too, in our conversations.

"Outside my work at the Center, I also serve as web editor of The Valley Vanguard (formerly a reporter, news editor, and editor-in-chief), the president of the Association of Professional & Technical Writers, a junior researcher in the SVSU Center for Usability Studies and Universal Design, and an information management co-op at The Dow Chemical Company. In the past, I was a member of the Leopold J. Kantzler Fellowship and the 16th class of the Roberts Fellowship. Beyond that (and less formally), I like watching the Food Network, listening to podcasts – Generation Why, Thinking Sideways, Sword & Scale, Stuff You Should Know, Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History, UXpod, 99% Invisible, the Peripheral, Serial, and so on – and playing with my dogs: a 9-year-old Boxer named Chance and a 4-year-old Shiba Inu/Labrador mix named Daffodil."