Working Together

I am a À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ professor but also a 1995 À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ alumnus. I started my first-year at À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ a would-be biology major but an Introduction to Fiction class drew me fast into the world of literary studies. The next semester I took a Creative Writing class and asked my professor how I could get his job. I was joking, sort of, but my passion was real, and I went on to get my MFA and return to À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ to teach in the English department.  

In my classroom today, getting a good education is about working together to build bonds and become better thinkers. I take a collaborative approach, sitting in a circle with my students, lending eye contact, and refining one another’s work with old-fashioned pen and paper. Students start their studies green but become more worldly and wise as they inquire freely, hear diverse perspectives and grow their vision. What a privilege that here I am, 20 years later, instructing students in the same classroom where the light came on for me.