Writing Center

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Breanna (Bee) Chase

Major Liberal Studies
Specialty Brainstorming
Bee’s Writing Tips/About Bee “I have two tips that may help things seem less overwhelming. First, jot down all of your ideas, no matter how disorganized or silly. Think of your paper as an argument, you always find the best things to say after having had some time think. Give yourself time to process your ideas and then then begin writing. Second, remember that writing a paper can be overwhelming. By finding ways to break your paper into more manageable pieces is a great way to combat that stress. Having a thesis, topic sentences, and a closing statement is a great base for a paper. Once you have this foundation, filling in the rest becomes less difficult.”
Time Worked at Shasta College Three years

Tara Burrows

Major English
Specialty Teaching English as a second language
Tara’s Writing Tip/About Tara “I am majoring in English to eventually reach my career goal of teaching English overseas as a part of the JET program. I have been tutoring for about 3 and a half years, and I have never enjoyed my job more! I always wanted to help people, so originally, I wanted to be a nurse. Unfortunately, I faint at the sight of blood, so that career was off the table. My grandfather taught agriculture for many years at Shasta College, so when it came time to seriously consider a career, teaching became my goal. Our world is in chaos, and one way in which to change the downward spiral is giving everyone equal access to a good education.”
Favorite Quote “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”- Nelson Mandela
Time Worked at Shasta College About 3 years

Sofia Hansen

Major Geology and Music
Specialty Developing ideas and organization, MLA formatting, and proofreading.
Sofia’s Writing Tip/About Sofia “Outlines can be more useful than you think! If you’re stuck, try jotting down ideas of beats you want to hit or points you want to make. From there, you can easily put them in an order to help your writing flow better! Reading over your work out loud can help catch some issues that you might otherwise miss just reading it to yourself. Sometimes your eyes skip over words but reading it out loud forces you to go a little bit slower and more intentionally.”
Favorite Quote “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” -Victor Hugo
Time Worked at Shasta College 5th semester working at Shasta College

Kenji Messmer

Major English and History
Specialty Argumentative writing and critical analysis
Kenji’s Writing Tips/About Kenji “My number one writing tip is to format the assignment prompt into a question. Then make sure your thesis statement directly answers that question. This way, you can make sure you stay on target when writing your essay.”
Favorite Quote “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.”- Robin Williams
Time Worked at Shasta College 8 months

Eythana Miller

Major Supply Chain Management with an English minor
Specialty Descriptive and narrative writing
Eythana’s Writing Tip/About Eythana “People want to know why they should care, and what gives something significance. When you’re writing, think about an emotion your story or topic makes you feel, even if it seems minor. Connect to that as you write, and it will show the reader why what you have to say is important. Emotion is a part of humanity, and everyone loves to be reminded that we are a collective whole with many things in common.”
Favorite Quote “If something inside of you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So, you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work. Write straight into the emotional center of things. Write toward vulnerability. Risk being unliked. Tell the truth as you understand it. If you’re a writer, you have a moral obligation to do this. And it is a revolutionary act—truth is always subversive.”- Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Time Worked at Shasta College One semester working at Shasta College

Kailey Wilson (Kailey or Kay)

Major English
Specialty Embedded tutor for English 1B and specializes in literature comprehension, drafting a thesis, and MLA formatting.
Kailey’s Writing tip/About Kailey “It’s so easy to get writer's block while drafting your essay and a lot of times we get stuck editing and over analyzing what we’ve already written. Set a timer for five or ten minutes and just write down your thoughts as they flow through your head. Don’t worry about spelling, grammar, punctuation, or if what your writing makes sense. DON’T worry about any of that at the moment! Just write how your brain thinks until the timer goes off, then reset the timer (five or ten minutes) and read over/edit what you’ve just written. Repeat that process until you know what direction you want to take your essay! This is called “automatic writing” and it is a tool that has saved me from writer's block so many times. So next time, give Automatic Writing a try!”
Favorite Quote “The beginning is always today.” -Mary Shelley
Time Worked at Shasta College Fourth semester working at Shasta College

Stay tuned for additional peer tutoring bios posted throughout the semester and see them featured on our Instagram at @sclearningcenter!