Welcome back! We hope your first week is off to a good start.
Please look at the list of all of our schedule options for this semester to find the schedule that fits your needs. You can select the appropriate schedule from the drop-down menu on the scheduler, after you log in. Please note that a few of our schedules are restricted for specific users. If you schedule an appointment for one of this restricted schedules, your tutor will not be able to accommodate you and you will have to reschedule.
Please let us know if you have any questions: 703-993-1200.
Amber is beginning her second year as a fiction candidate in the MFA program. She grew up in Charlottesville, but couldn't help attending college at Virginia Tech--go Hokies! During college, she completed a language immersion program in Mexico and studied classical literature in Greece. She reluctantly graduated in 2009 with degrees in English and Spanish, a minor in Music, and a burning passion for swing dancing, which she now teaches in the DC area. When she needs a break from writing, Amber likes learning about Russian, cooking, and though she's reluctant to admit it, Professional Organizing.
Sheila, a Southern California native, graduated from Arizona State University with a B.A. in English: Creative Writing. While her concentration was in poetry, she also dedicated many classes to Women's and Rhetorical Studies. In 2009, she earned her Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certificate and then spent the last year living in China teaching university students. She is currently an MFA candidate in poetry. She loves traveling, going on new adventures and listening to other people's stories!
Mike is an MFA candidate in poetry. He grew up an itinerant air force brat before finally settling in the Philadelphia area, and he graduated in 2007 from the University of Michigan with a BA in philosophy and English. After graduation he spent two years teaching English in South Korea on a Fulbright Fellowship, then spent a year working in the Philadelphia area. He speaks Korean and just enough Chinese to order pizza over the phone. In his spare time he practices martial arts, hunts for online radio broadcasts of Phillies games, and works to free Lil' Wayne.
Jackie is from Ohio, where she completed her B.A. in French and Creative Writing and M.A. in Creative Writing/Poetry at Miami University. She spent a gap year in Aix-en-Provence teaching English and translating a book of contemporary French poetry. She enjoys traveling, cooking, eating, and riding her bike. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Poetry at George Mason.
Nani has lived in Rio de Janeiro, where she sold sandwiches on the beach. She also lived in Manhattan in the East Village and, briefly, in San Antonio, Texas. She has published three novels, two memoirs and a few short stories here and there. She lives in Virginia and is working towards her MFA in Fiction. She doesn't sell sandwiches anymore, but if you insist, she might make you some palak paneer.
Eiman, our ESL Specialist, has been a part of the George Mason community for eleven years, as a student, ESL Specialist at the Writing Center, and English and Writing instructor with ELI and GSE. She has a B.A. in International Studies and an M.A. in Linguistics. She also teaches English for Academic Purposes at The George Washington University.
Eiman is currently working with Dr. Terry Zawacki, Anna Habib, Sarah Baker, and Shamama Moosvi on the Diversity Project, researching non-native students' experiences as writers in the American academy as compared to their native country. The research team has published this research in a monograph titled Valuing Written Accents and presented the research at several conferences, including the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC). The description of the project and the findings are available on an interactive website: http://writtenaccents.gmu.edu.
Valerie grew up in a small town in north Texas and graduated from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, with a BA in English and a minor in History. After graduating, she spent ten months in AmeriCorps NCCC and then a few years trying her hand at different jobs including teaching fourth grade. After relocating to northern Virginia two years ago, she decided to finally go back to school to get an MA in English. When she's not studying or working, she enjoys yoga, camping, going to concerts, and trying to cook.
Paul earned his BA in English from George Mason University in 2008 and is currently enrolled as an MFA with a focus in fiction here at his alma mater. He is also an alumnus of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers Workshop (2009). Paul is a native of Northern Virginia (though he has traveled elsewhere and reports positively). He is the legal guardian of a cat for whom he feels an affinity as a father, and in his free time he enjoys such hobbies as playing guitar, tending his LEGO brick garden, and playing poker. He also hesitated before he employed the preceding oxford comma.
Corinne grew up in a small town in central New York. She graduated from Gettysburg College with a BA in sociology. For the past four years she has been working in DC homeless services doing job development and teaching life skills. At one family emergency shelter in Southeast DC she founded a creative writing program for kids. She was also able to develop technical writing skills such as grant-writing and resume-writing. Corinne is currently working toward an MFA in fiction.
Ann is a native Washingtonian and remembers when Tysons Corner stood in the middle of farmland. She has an undergraduate degree in nursing from the University of Virginia, a law degree from The College of William & Mary, and a background in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins. She served in the Navy Nurse Corps and worked for healthcare associations as both a healthcare policy analyst and a research associate before committing to writing. In her off time she can be found in the gym, on a snowboard, or on her bike. It’s the best way to keep up with her two sons.
Traci is a native of Northern Virginia. In 2008 she graduated from James Madison University with a BA in English and a minor in Anthropology. She spent the last year on a Fulbright Fellowship to Slovakia where she taught English literature and American studies to Slovak high school students. Traci is currently a student in the MFA creative nonfiction writing program. When she's not reading, Traci enjoys playing outside, road trips with friends and planning future adventures to other countries.
Siwar graduated from the University of Jordan with a bachelor of science in pharmacy in 2009. Her first language is Arabic, but English is a very close second, followed by French. She moved from Jordan to Virgina to pursue an MFA in poetry. Last fall, she tutored Arabic and Chemistry on campus. Siwar loves traveling, cooking and going on day trips with her friends. She loves how many trees Fairfax has.
Jennie is a native Virginian who graduated from Virginia Tech in 2007 with a BA in Mass Communication and a BA in International Studies with a minor in Business French. After a post-graduation whirlwind tour of the Middle East and Europe, Jennie spent three years working for The Roanoke Times, a mid-size daily newspaper, and its subsidiaries before deciding she wanted to go back to school for a few more degrees - this time at the graduate level. She is currently working toward an MA in English with a concentration in the teaching of writing and literature and hopes to follow that up with a master's in secondary education and eventually teach high school English and journalism. She still subscribes to a paper edition of the newspaper and loves to read it, along with anything else she can get her hands on. When she's not reading, Jennie to watch movies, cook, travel, and send lengthy emails (and letters!) to friends and family.
Barbara will be an ESL graduate assistant this year. She received her BA in Fine Arts from Goucher College with majors in studio art and education and is currently three courses shy of her MA in Linguistics at GMU. She has a certificate from Cambridge University in TEFLA (Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Adults) and has taught ESL for Fairfax County and ESL Writing Composition at NOVA. Barbara grew up on the East Coast, spent many years in sunny California, and was lured to Virginia by nostalgia for the four seasons. In her not-so-spare spare time, Barbara enjoys ballroom dancing (mainly swing and waltz), cooking, and downhill skiing. She and her husband have two sons, one working in Boston and the other in NYC.
Kelly earned a B.A. in Communication from the University of Tampa in 1995, and an M.A. in Journalism from American University in 1998. Since then, she's been a print journalist who has worked for large, metropolitan daily newspapers such as the Hartford Courant, Philadelphia Inquirer and Palm Beach Post, where she covered everything from press conferences at the White House to the latest advancements in equine reproduction. She's also written travel stories, food reviews, and features for regional magazines. She is now thrilled to be working toward an M.F.A. in creative writing at George Mason University. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, yoga, and adventure travel.
Lauren graduated in 2008 from Kent State University with a BA in Spanish and a minor in writing. She spent the last two years teaching English as Second Language and Adult Basic Education as a Literacy*AmeriCorps member. She recently moved from Pittsburgh to attend the M.F.A. program at GMU. With her free time, she enjoys sewing, cooking, and outdoor activities.
Francesca is a native Delawarean who first came to the DC area for her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University in English and Psychology. After college she worked at a taxi accident management firm in England, before moving back to DC for a job in communications at an environmental nonprofit. She also has experience writing for educational, international development, and human rights nonprofits. She is currently pursuing an MFA in nonfiction and besides reading and writing loves to play bocce, sew, ride bikes, take photos, and travel.
Aaron has been writing since kindergarten, where "The Pink and Purple Dragon" was met with mixed reviews, mainly because no on else in the class could read it. He has a B.A. from the Ohio State University and an M.A. from Miami University, both in English.
Katherine is in her second year of the MFA Poetry program at Mason. She graduated from Virginia Tech in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Math and Creative Writing. For the past several years, she has tutored in both Math and Composition, and will be teaching her first composition course this Fall. She enjoys singing, composing music, and experiencing new places/foods.
Elizabeth is a second year fiction candidate in the MFA program. She grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and attended Kenyon College in Ohio, graduating in 2005 with a B.A. in English and an emphasis in creative writing. Before coming to Mason, she spent a year teaching English in South Korea on a Fulbright Fellowship. She has lived in D.C. for a total of three years and has work experience as an editorial assistant at a small online magazine and as the communications manager at an educational non-profit, where she learned to write grant proposals.
The George Mason University Writing Center is committed to supporting writers in the Mason community as they work to construct and share knowledge through writing. We aim to achieve this through providing writers with the opportunity to test out ideas with a tutorial staff comprised of trustworthy and attentive readers and listeners. We believe that the best writing support is achieved with tutors who listen and ask questions in order to foster a writer’s own curiosity. We believe that achieving a strong piece of writing takes time, and therefore requires multiple drafts. As such, we aim to support writers from the beginning exploratory stages of the writing process up through a final, well-presented idea in a final version.
In service of these ideals we offer the Mason community the following:
We believe that all writers, students and professionals alike, should have access to this support. As such:
In response to faculty and student interest in better supporting our multilingual and international students, the Writing Center is launching a new program to offer just this type of support.
The program was designed specifically for students whose first language is not English who feel they might benefit from additional, targeted support over the course of an entire semester.
Students in our opt-in ESL program will benefit from:
To sign up for the Opt-In Support Program, schedule an appointment with an ESL Specialist through the online scheduler. Select the ESL Specialist drop-down menu. During your first appointment, inform your tutor that you would like to register for the Opt-In program. She will then schedule you for two appointments per week for the whole semester. For any questions, please contact Kathy Goodkin at wcenter@gmu.edu.
Once again, Mason has ranked among the top 23 programs for writing in the disciplines in the U.S. News College Issue (2009). We are one of only eleven public institutions making the list.
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