The last eighteen years of my life have been spent teaching adult students both American and foreign how to improve their writing assignments. Where did this tutoring skill and a new profession begin? Both were initiated at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan. A sweet Vietnamese girl was struggling with a technical writing assignment, so MCC's Tutoring Department inquired for help from the Editorial Services Department where I was working. My supervisor offered her my services. That was just the beginning. This later led to a second job at Oakland Community College in Royal Oak, Michigan. As an English and ESL tutor and workshop presenter there, a student's success in written literacy was paramount to the job I held.
Through ongoing efforts in trying to determine my students' problems and needs, I developed seminars and an exercise file that would give them emergency grammar and punctuation brush-ups in areas of English they either never learned or often forgot. Writing was an easy task for me, being a reporter by trade, but imparting this skill to them--that came so natural to me--was a challenge. With guidance obtained from compassion and empathy, students trusted my judgment and enjoyed my company, eagerly putting forth creative work. I would like to offer this type of relationship to you. A student once complimented, "You have a gift." What good is a gift if you don't give it away? Please note: I have worked with adults 18 and over. I would prefer not to work with youngsters unless they are upper level high school and studious. English, like many subjects, takes practice/repetition. The person has to want it.
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