Who am I? Well, I suppose it is appropriate for me to begin this venture by doing some reflective writing of my own. A college essay years after the fact!
I should start with the most relevant facts: I am a recently retired English teacher who is looking to transition from a full-time classroom teacher to a part-time writing tutor. Up until June of 2023, I worked at Francis Parker School for 32 years – as a teacher (mostly 11th and 12th grades) and as a college counselor (2000-2006).
It probably goes without saying that as an English teacher and college counselor, I read a lot of student writing. With respect to college essays in particular, much of the work came organically from my classroom teaching, as I shaped a variety of junior- and senior-level courses around the theme of personal growth through literature. In my AP classes, for instance, the reflective writing that students did throughout the year culminated in a multi-draft college essay in the spring. I was intimately involved in all aspects of the essay-writing process, from brainstorming to drafting to editing. As students moved on to the college process, I often served as unofficial advisor, reading draft after draft of every kind of essay imaginable. I don’t know how many essays I read over the years, but I would estimate the number to be in the thousands.
I know it is a cliche to say I am “uniquely qualified,” but I really think I am uniquely qualified for college essay work. In addition to my teaching, I worked in the Francis Parker College Counseling office as the Co-Director of College Counseling from 2000-2006. Working under the guidance of Bonnie Laughlin, a Southern California counseling legend, I learned the college application process from beginning to end. With a caseload of 50-60 students, I was involved in all aspects of the college process: working closely with families, developing college lists, reviewing applications, and welcoming college representatives. And, of course, reading essays.
In terms of academic writing, I have written in the margins of thousands and thousands of expository essays. My goal in evaluating essays is always the same: meet students where they are and help them take the next steps. Sometimes that involves fine-tuning prose that is already sharp and sophisticated, but more often it involves starting from the beginning: talking through an interpretation, generating a thesis, and creating a productive outline.
Those are the reasons that I think I’m qualified to help students with their writing, but thus far I haven’t said much about why I want to do this, why I want to start my own writing help business after 32+ years of teaching. The most obvious reason – to supplement the retirement income – doesn’t tell the whole story. The truth is, I don’t feel ready to give up my role as an intellectual mentor for young people sorting through their lives. It was the part of teaching I loved most: actively helping students grow through writing. I suspect that evaluating student writing as an outside tutor rather than a classroom teacher will feel different for me, but at least it will allow me to stay connected to a process that I find genuinely meaningful and important. In short, I want to stay in the game.
In my 11th grade classes, when we finished reading Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” I would have my students go outside and belt out a loud “Yawp!” for all of the school to hear. The exclamation came from the last section of the poem, when Whitman says, “I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.” It was mostly for fun, but there was also a deeper point: a lot of students had a voice but were afraid to use it. Whitman’s message is always on the side of letting it out, shouting it out over the rooftops for all the world to hear. Whitman is all about the yawp. My hope is that this little business venture will help me stay connected to the yawping.
Yawp,
mrh
contact: [email protected]
