Amy is a senior studying Management Information Systems. She enjoys every aspect of the writing process whether it be the early brainstorming/outlining stages or the final revisions. Amy especially loves working on personal statements and creative writing!

Angela is a fourth-year studying Developmental Psychology and minoring in Urban Studies. She has experience working with creative writers, second language learners, and writing within the humanities. Angela especially loves working with writers who are looking to explore their identities and lived experiences through writing. She recognizes also that academia has traditionally excluded Black, Brown, Indigenous, queer and disabled stories from being told authentically. Angela is intentional in creating a space where all stories feel respected and valued.

Anne has been a teacher of writing for 30 years, both in the U.S. and overseas, and a Multilingual Learner Specialist writing consultant for the last six years at the U of M. She likes to work on all kinds of writing with students, from application letters, to course lab reports & essays, to dissertations. She says, "Bring it on!" She speaks French but does better consulting in English. This photo is of her very BIG dog, Millie, who is just as tall as she is—maybe taller—on her hind legs...

Ariana (she/hers) is a Ph.D. candidate in Culture and Teaching within the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Her research is focused on Asian American educational issues and socially just pedagogies. She is familiar with supporting various kinds of writing, but is especially excited to support personal statements, argumentative essays, literature reviews, research papers, and reflective writing. She has a medium-level proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking Hmong. She loves listening to BTS, being in nature, cooking, and traveling.

Ben (he/him/his) is currently a sophomore at the U of M. He plans (heavy emphasis on plans) on majoring in Economics and Sociology with minors in Spanish and Statistics. He spends most of his free time reading, making coffee, scrolling through Twitter, and listening to music he finds while scrolling on Twitter. He has a particular soft spot for creative writing, argumentative essays, and prose.

Carel is a second-year student studying architecture and urban studies. As a writing consultant, he loves helping writers brainstorm, expound, and organize their ideas. While he loves working with all types of writing, he has an affinity for personal statements, cover letters, inquiry papers, and narrative papers. Having been raised in Indonesia, Carel loves the diverse experiences and ideas that multicultural and multilingual students bring to the table. He is always committed to providing a safe space for students to share their voice. In his free time, Carel enjoys being in nature, watching feel-good comedies (his all-time favorite being Schitt’s Creek), and going on impromptu supermarket runs.

Chiron is a senior in the College of Liberal Arts. He is studying English, Linguistics, Spanish, French, Classical Civilization, and TESL. He loves being busy but still makes time to help others. When he does get free time, he loves to spend time with his friends and enjoys pretty much any board game. He prefers helping out with humanities papers and book reviews but is willing to help write anything. He can read (and more or less speak) in English, Spanish, and French.

Daniel is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Sociology studying religion, race, and culture. His bilingual upbringing in Southern California gave him an affinity for multicultural education and working with writers of nontraditional backgrounds. While Daniel believes in the transformative effect education can have, he recognizes education can take many shapes and is committed to working with students to find a plan that works for them.

David is a senior in the Technical Writing and Communications program. While he especially loves playing with the organization and structure of writings, he is a consultant happy to assist at any stage of the writing process. David is looking forward to running the gambit from freshmen composition papers to personal statements for grad school applications! If he has any spare time this semester, it will likely be spent reading, skiing, and playing video games.

Emily (she/hers) is a poet and PhD student in political theory/political science. She works a lot with Gender Women Sexuality Studies and Asian American Studies and her research is focused on race, colonialism, and film. She’s excited to work with all kinds of writers, and is really glad to support folks writing personal statements, planning research papers, reverse-outlining arguments, doing creative analysis, crafting poems etc… anything we can work through piece by piece and approach with generosity/curiosity together!

Erin (she/her) is a graduate student in the Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Department. Her dissertation research focuses on nutrient cycling in urban freshwater ecosystems. While she is particularly familiar with science writing, Erin is always eager to work with other disciplines. As a long-time teaching assistant, she has a lot of experience helping undergraduate students interpret prompts, brainstorm content, and articulate their great ideas onto a page. As a graduate student, she is familiar with the challenges (and excitement!) that come from using proposals and manuscripts to grapple with big ideas. Regardless of your career stage or the status of your writing project, Erin’s goal is for you to feel energized and confident in your next steps.

Euan (he/him) is a queer-friendly junior in the College of Liberal Arts, pursuing a BA in English and minors in French and Biology. He enjoys helping with any part of the writing process, though he particularly loves workshopping creative writing (and even has some author experience collaborating with small publishing houses!). Euan works best both when he’s giving big-picture feedback, as well as helping with sentence-level edits. In his free time, he listens to a wide variety of music (including The Hu, Therapie Taxi, and Two Steps from Hell) and reads awful books (he likes challenging himself to figure out how he’d fix them).

Gabby is a third year Developmental Psychology major with a minor in Spanish Studies and Public Health. She speaks English and fluent Spanish. In her free time, Gabby enjoys spending time outdoors and reading. As a consultant, Gabby wants to work with writers at all different stages of writing. It is very important to her that a student's voice and identity is reflected in their writing, and she hopes every writer feels comfortable sharing their work and leaving confident in where they want to take their writing next!

Grace is a sophomore studying Developmental Psychology and Political Science with hopes to attend law school. As a consultant, she hopes to create a comfortable, inclusive space for the writer and help them feel confident in their writing. She loves reading and working with all types of writing and wants every writer to leave the consultation feeling better than when they arrived. In her free time, Grace enjoys reading, hiking, being a barista, and spending time with friends.

Isabelle is a fourth-year majoring in Neuroscience who has been in love with reading and writing for most of her life. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music, reading, and baking. She is excited to work with writers on anything they bring in, whether it is a lab report, a personal statement, a short story…anything! She hopes to create a comfortable and open space during writing consultations to give the writer a positive and empowering experience when they visit.

Jamie is a junior majoring in Studies in Cinema & Media Culture with a minor in Creative Writing. In her free time, she likes to spend time with her friends, watch YouTube videos (specifically gaming and short horror stories), and crocheting. She is a consultant who hopes to create a welcoming environment for everyone no matter their background. She’s had experience with poems, personal narratives, creative fiction pieces, and film analysis essays, but she is open to working on anything and lending a helping hand!

For her own writing, Jasmine (she/her/hers) finds getting started to be the hardest stage of any project, but for whatever reason, she loves supporting other writers' brainstorming. She also enjoys supporting high-stakes writing such as statements of purpose and fellowship essays, as well as theses and dissertations. She likes to strategize about how to break up a big project into manageable chunks in ways that work for the writing and learning style of the writer. Jasmine also has researched the experiences of BIPOC doctoral writers and thinks a lot about the tension that many people encounter when they write in the academy. Jasmine grew up speaking Cantonese and English at home and is an alum of the U’s American Studies doctoral program.

Jennifer values collaborative knowledge exploration, and she hopes to hold space for writers to find joy and ease in their writing process. She loves helping writers at all stages of writing, though she particularly adores brainstorming and reorganizing. Jennifer is a political (agro)ecologist and, as an interdisciplinary scholar, she is comfortable working across a wide range of disciplines, from Environmental Science to Sociology to History, and on writing types ranging from lab reports to personal statements to theses/dissertations. Outside of SWS, Jennifer is passionate about food—growing, foraging, cooking, eating, sharing, and even exploring it in her Ph.D. research.

Joe has worked as a writing consultant in writing centers with several years of experience working with students whose first language is not English. He’s a consultant who enjoys learning about writers and the contexts of their writings. Joe speaks French, Spanish, and some American Sign Language (ASL) as well as English. He has a BA in Spanish and an MA in Spanish Linguistics and is a student in the master’s program in TESOL. His interests include linguistics, literature, teaching, and cooking.

A liberal arts nerd who majored in English; had almost-minors in Music, Art History, and Philosophy; switched focus in graduate school from Victorian Literature to Composition to Writing Center Studies; and took a loooong time to finish her own dissertation, Katie (she/her/hers) enjoys working with and learning from writers from across the disciplines. She wishes she could take more classes, including math, with which she struggles mightily. As a consultant, she is empathetic; curious about the ideas and experiences that writers want to share; and truly, nerdily, gleefully excited to support other people as they write. Katie is interested in collaborating with writers on finding ways to use their own voices and bust open new possibilities for writing in—or against—the university, or whatever other spaces and systems matter to them.

Keng (he/him) is an undergraduate writing consultant majoring in English and an Individualized Study in Creative Writing, Leadership, and Asian American Studies. He is interested in how stories shape the ways we live authentically, diversely, and powerfully. As a writing consultant, Keng is excited to collaborate on any craft of writing, but especially enjoys creative/narrative pieces, literature reviews, research papers, and personal statements. He is keen on bringing out the ideas, voices, and strengths of the writer, and hopes to support them where they are at. In his free time, Keng enjoys playing volleyball, writing poetry and plays, listening to Hmong songs, and watching animation.

Kerry (she/her/hers) is a dedicated educator who has an M.A. in Teaching ESL in Higher Education and has worked in a number of English language programs around the Twin Cities in addition to her work at the Center for Writing. She loves talking through the structure of papers and working with writers on how to organize complex thoughts into logical papers with smooth transitions. She very much enjoys analyzing the more formulaic aspects of papers as well as discussing the creative choices. Outside of teaching, Kerry loves hiking, hanging out with her dogs, and sometimes cooking.

Kim is a SWS.online consultant who is also an online teacher in the Department of Writing Studies. Kim is one of the Department’s Multilingual Learner Specialists and has worked in this role for almost 25 years. Kim currently teaches first-year writing and has taught technical and professional writing (she especially enjoys job seeking writing like cover letters, resumes, and C.V.s) and graduate writing. Kim looks forward to working with you on any kind of writing you are doing at any stage of the writing process!

Kirsten has been working in writing centers for over 30 years, since her days as an undergraduate English major at Carleton College. Along the way, she picked up two more English degrees at UW-Madison and taught many literature and writing courses, but her favorite space for teaching and learning continues to be one-to-one writing consultations. She especially loves working with writers across the disciplines, who feed her curiosity about the world, and she enjoys collaborating at any stage in the writing process, from drawing mindmaps for brainstorming to finding just the right words for a final draft. When not working at the UMN, she travels to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to hang out with black bears like this one in her front yard.

Lyanna is a junior in CSOM majoring in Supply Chain & Operations Management with a minor in Business Law. In her free time, she loves to spend time with friends and family, read, and write (of course). She also loves traveling, especially to Jordan (the photo you see was taken at the Ajloun Castles there) where her family is from. She is fluent in both English and Arabic and especially loves analytical and creative writing!

Maggie (she) is a beekeeper, bee researcher, and parent. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Entomology Department where she studies the ways honey bees and stingless bees use plant resins to keep their colonies healthy. Maggie is happy to consult on all manner of writing work, but she particularly enjoys working with writers on personal statements, research statements, grant applications, and interdisciplinary projects. Maggie has spent a lot of time in biology/agroecology/agriculture writing modes but loves to consult across disciplines.

Max is a senior pursuing a dual degree in Philosophy and Technical Writing with a minor in Computer Science. With his background in philosophy, Max is most passionate about argumentation and logic. He knows from experience that brainstorming arguments and logically defending them—not to mention understanding the assignment in the first place—is difficult, and he’s happy to support writers in any discipline with these tasks. Outside of argumentative essays, he loves to help writers advocate for themselves in their resumes, cover letters, and other application materials. In his free time, Max enjoys playing Dungeons and Dragons, listening to heavy metal, and hanging out at cafes.

Mei is an undergraduate writing consultant pursuing a degree in Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering with minors in Chemistry and Sustainability Studies. She’s excited to consult with writers from all disciplines across the University and enjoys helping writers at any stages of their writing process. Beyond personal passions for literary analysis and creative writing, Mei has experience evaluating technical writing in lab reports, journal articles, and cover letters with an eye for thoroughness and persuasiveness. Mei’s priorities in the consultation are to make new writers feel comfortable sharing their work and to help each writer leave their writing conference feeling energized with next steps for their writing!

Michelle is a PhD candidate in the Department of American Studies with a minor in Heritage Studies and Public History. She has an affinity towards Critical Visual Studies, Asian American Studies, and Women of Color Feminist writings. In addition to working within higher education as an instructor, she has work experience in museums, including arts administration, curating, and oral history, and would be delighted to talk about how interdisciplinary training can translate into place outside of the classroom. Finally, Michelle understands the struggle in finding voice and confidence in writing; but, with the support of peers and mentors, she's found that writing can be fun, liberating, and experimental. As a consultant at SWS, she hopes to offer the same kind of support for other writers.

Molly is a fourth-year student and is pursuing a B.A. in English as well as a B.S. in Technical Writing. She is well versed in working on creative, technical, and argument-based papers. One of her favorite aspects of writing and editing papers is creating a structure that helps support the content of a paper. She has experience working with language learners.

Na’Jai (she/her) is a senior, wrapping up her final year of undergrad studying Psychology. With her heart set on getting her doctorate and her eyes focused on her studies, she brings determination and a strong work ethic everywhere she goes. Along with her passion for psychology, Na’Jai also loves to read, write, and crochet in her free time. Some of her favorite books include The Great Gatsby, The Book Thief, The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, and many more! She also loves to watch movies and TV shows. Right now, she is watching The Walking Dead. Though deathly afraid of zombies, she persists watching as the characters fight against the undead and the various social problems that follow them as they struggle to survive in the apocalypse. She is certain she would not survive a zombie apocalypse. Rather than becoming a zombie herself or taking matters into her own hands, she states that she would simply, “cease to exist.”

Natalie is a third-year undergraduate majoring in Special Education with a minor in Developmental Psychology and a certificate in Autism Spectrum Disorder. She also has been studying American Sign Language (ASL) for 6 years. As a consultant, Natalie wants to encourage and learn from writers’ unique experiences and ideas. She especially enjoys helping writers organize and process their writing. In her spare time, Natalie loves reading, hiking, baking, and everything fall related (especially candles).

Peter is a graduate writing consultant and a doctoral candidate in Political Science, specializing in the political economy of international financial and monetary relations and quantitative methods. He has experience working with second-language learners, policy-based writers, and students who are content creators. He enjoys working with students on all types of writing, including professional emails, fellowship and job applications, lab reports, argumentative and persuasive essays, and research papers. As a team member at SWS, he provides a welcoming and supportive space for students to strengthen their writing skills, confidence, and sense of achievement.

Sarah enjoys writing, and working with writers, and she finds writing to be endlessly interesting—and complicated. She especially enjoys working with writers as they navigate tricky decisions, like whether to go into more depth about a particular topic at the cost of covering a wider range of ideas, or how to balance their own voices and priorities with outside feedback and constraints. Sarah’s interest in writing also extends beyond SWS. She teaches two First-Year Writing courses each semester and also serves as a Faculty Coordinator for the WRIT 1301 cohort College in the Schools. Even though she's worked as a writing consultant and teacher for a number of years, Sarah thinks she still has a lot to learn about the many ways writing can take shape in and outside of the University, and she looks forward to continuing to learn from the writers she works with.

Sean is a fourth year phd student in the curriculum and instruction department. His research focuses on how racialization happens in the english language arts classroom and the enforcement of single narratives of the "other" in texts students read. Sean has been a middle and high school teacher in the Minneapolis area before starting his phd in the fall of 2019. He loves comic books and cultural study narratives.

Sumeya (she/her) is a senior studying Technical Writing and Communication. She likes writing essays of all kinds: informative, argumentative, research, narrative, analytical, and comparative, just to name a few. Her favorite part of the writing process is organization/outlining, but she also enjoys finding places to expand on ideas and identifying where something can be said more succinctly. Sumeya hopes to create a low stakes, adaptive environment where writers feel comfortable advocating for their needs and preferences continuously through the session.

Susan's long teaching career—from ESL to University writing classes—informs her consulting as she frequently draws on her knowledge about instructor expectations and assignment interpretation, as well as academic writing conventions. As one of the Multilingual Learner Specialists (with an MA in Applied Linguistics), Susan's expertise is effective expression in English, including grammar and sentence structure, but she can also provide moderate assistance with texts in Spanish. She enjoys engaging with ideas—helping writers discover a direction, asking challenging questions, and pointing out gaps in logic or development—while simultaneously providing encouragement and validation.

Tara is an international second-year student from India, majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Math. English is her third language with Hindi and Marathi being the first two. She loves reading and helping with most disciplines of writing like essays and reflections, but especially enjoys scholarship- and job-seeking writing like applications, scholarships, resumes, cover letters, etc.. Her priorities in a consultation are to make writers feel comfortable sharing their writing and hopefully, more confident. Tara also loves fluffy cows, making chevron bracelets, and watching Genera+ion.

Yara (she/her) is an international student from Lebanon and a senior at the U. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Individualized Studies with concentrations in Life Sciences, Developmental Psychology, and African Studies, with a minor in Public Health. Yara is fluent in French, English, and Arabic, and intermediately proficient in Spanish. She enjoys working with multilingual students and students from different backgrounds, cultures, and identities. She has mastered the art of writing chemistry lab reports but also absolutely loves consulting on more creative/personal pieces of writing!

Growing up in a city resting on the base of a great mountain, Yuran took a liking to the bodies of water generously offered by the Twin Cities. Yuran has entered his last year as an undergrad feeling like a freshman: despite the chaos and uncertainty in life, he’s just excited to be here. Yuran has taken interests in biology, cinema studies, media production, philosophy and linguistics in college and is currently working toward a degree in Sport Management. His education will likely remain exploratory. So are other aspects of his life. As a writing consultant, Yuran aims to offer compassion and inspire creativity. A believer in humans’ ability to connect through feelings, he wants to be someone with whom you feel comfortable sharing vulnerability. Yuran is bilingual in English and Mandarin Chinese.

Zoe (she/hers) is a passionate fiction writer who is studying English with a focus on publishing and editing. She has experience writing in a variety of genres, from resumes to argumentative essays to poetry. No matter the project, she loves helping others develop the motivation and confidence to write. Zoe also enjoys knitting, playing with her two cats, and singing loudly in the car.