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MFA Student & UC Berkeley Grad Specializing in Essays & Short Stories
Stella M.

5.0 (25 ratings)

42 hours tutoring

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About Stella

Bio

Hello! My name is Stella and I am a graduate of UC Berkeley and a current MFA student in Creative Writing, Fiction at Colorado State University. While at UC Berkeley, I designed and taught a creative writing class to fellow UCB students. In that position, I worked with 18 students at a time and in 1 on 1 settings in office hours. During the summer of 2024, I worked as an instructor for the Academic Talent Development Program's Short Fiction Workshop, where I ran a class and workshop for a...

Hello! My name is Stella and I am a graduate of UC Berkeley and a current MFA student in Creative Writing, Fiction at Colorado State University. While at UC Berkeley, I designed and taught a creative writing class to fellow UCB students. In that position, I worked with 18 students at a time and in 1 on 1 settings in office hours. During the summer of 2024, I worked as an instructor for the Academic Talent Development Program's Short Fiction Workshop, where I ran a class and workshop for a group of 7th- 12th graders. I volunteered through Splash at Berkeley for two years, where I taught classes on resumé crafting, short fiction, personal essays, and more.

In my creative writing classes, I prioritize a generative atmosphere so that students are constantly creating new work. I enjoy pairing prompts with lessons in order to target specific skills such as showing vs. telling, dialogue, meaningful details, capturing emotion, atmosphere, and action. I am happy to tailor prompts to the needs and interests of individual students, and am pleased that tutoring will allow me to work with students in this way. I have substantial experience in revision suggestions due to partaking in three semester-long courses on workshopping creative writing, an overseas writing workshop, and four years of writing and workshopping research essays.

I can help students at any point in the process of any written piece: idea generation, storyboarding, outlining, revising, and/or proofreading. I will ensure that college essays and personal statements depict my student as the asset that they are, highlighting their strengths in a unique fashion to make them unforgettable. For research essays, we will focus on building a strong foundation via outlining and introduction drafting then shift our focus to maintaining the focus of the piece in later drafts.

I firmly believe that every piece we work on will make you a better writer overall. I am thrilled to tailor this tutoring experience to your needs and preferences!

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Education

University of California, Berkeley
English
Colorado State University
Masters

Policies

  • Hourly Rate: $40
  • Rate details: Lessons cancelled within 24 hours of the appointment will be billed at full cost. Lessons rescheduled within 12 hours of the appointment will be billed at 50% of the cost.
  • Lesson cancellation: 24 hours notice required

  • Background check passed on 8/4/2025

  • Your first lesson is backed by our Good Fit Guarantee

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Approved Subjects

Creative Writing

Creative Writing

I received a Minor in Creative Writing from UC Berkeley and utilized the skills I learned from that program in order to get into a fully-funded MFA in Creative Writing program. My MFA program offered me their Graduate Research Assistantship, meaning I am being paid to conduct research and write my thesis throughout my time in the program while also serving as a Teaching Assistant to the Creative Writing Department's faculty. While at UC Berkeley, I served in a variety of teaching positions, many of which had to do with creative writing: I designed my own class for UC Berkeley students and taught it for three semesters. I designed five classes on creative writing and led them for local high schoolers four times. I designed and ran a short fiction workshop for rising 7th-12th grade students.
Essay Writing

Essay Writing

I Attended UC Berkeley and graduated with a 3.8 GPA and a B.A. in English. During my time at UC Berkeley, I wrote two 15+ page research papers, and over sixty shorter research and critical analysis papers. Because of this, my ability to outline, draft, and revise research and critical essays has become not just well-practiced but habitual. I took multiple creative non-fiction classes at UC Berkeley as part of the creative writing minor in order to hone my ability to write and revise personal essays. I have used these skills to assist high school seniors with their college and scholarship essays. I have also helped edit memoir-esque personal essay collections.
Fiction Writing

Fiction Writing

I have a Minor in Creative Writing from UC Berkeley and am a fully-funded teaching assistant and researcher in a Creative Writing, Fiction MFA program. While at UC Berkeley, I designed and taught a university-approved course on Creative Writing to fellow UC Berkeley students in a volunteer position. I also designed and taught a course on writing and workshopping short fiction for rising 7th-12th graders in a paid position through UC Berkeley's Academic Talent Development Program.
Personal Statements

Personal Statements

During my own college application process in 2020, I was accepted to UC Berkeley as an out-of-state student, a category that had an ~8% acceptance rate. While at UC Berkeley, I helped graduating seniors work on personal essays in order to secure admission to their dream colleges and independent scholarships. I have taken multiple classes on creative non-fiction and have experience with writing and editing personal essays. I can assist with the Common App essay and with the college-specific personal insight questions that universities require.
Public Speaking

Public Speaking

When I entered UC Berkeley, I struggled with severe social anxiety that flared up especially badly with public speaking. Due to this, I sought out opportunities to practice public speaking-- I became an Orientation Leader, started my own class, and took classes that required lengthy presentations. Though I still struggle with anxiety around public speaking, I am more confident than ever and have come to enjoy the thrill of a pounding heart! I have served 210+ hours in public speaking leadership roles over the last three years due to leading Golden Bear Orientation at UC Berkeley, and teaching my own classes. I have engaged in 500+ hours of seminar style classes and workshops that required regularly speaking in front of groups of 10-25 people. I would be thrilled to help you prepare to tackle any and all public speaking situations! No situation is too small :)
Writing

Writing

I wrote 60+ research and critical analysis essays during my time at UC Berkeley, and can help students at any point of the process. I have written fiction, poetry, and personal essays (creative non-fiction) and am studying fiction professionally at university. I have helped multiple students brainstorm and revise their college application essays to get into their top colleges. I have been journaling on and off for the last decade and would love to help you begin journaling and/or break down any journaling barriers! I am constantly seeking out new ways to improve my own writing, and it would be an honor to bring the lessons I've learned to my students.
English
Grammar
Literature
Proofreading

Examples of Expertise

Stella has provided examples of their subject expertise by answering 1 question submitted by students on Wyzant’s Ask an Expert.

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Ratings and Reviews

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Reviews

Organize and knowledgeable

I'm glad that I found Stella to tutor my son's writing. She is knowlegeable, organized and detail oriented, she also focus on his weakness. We look forward to have more lesson with Stella. I really appreciate her help.

Emma, 7 lessons with Stella

Stella is a great tutor

Stella showed me how to journal and use the emotion wheel. I started journaling right away. I really appreciate how she takes complex ideas and makes them simple and easy to put into practice.

Jie, 11 lessons with Stella

So insightful and helpful!

She was AMAZING book her! My $25 went well spent she has the mindset of a college admissions officer. She knows what to look for in an essay and she really made me think of what to mention more or what I should expand on. She also offered me extra resources at the end for my college process, which was super nice of her. Very helpful, will book more with her. Her price is extremely reasonable.

Parmida, 2 lessons with Stella