The two incoming Writing Fellows, Pat McGrath '07 and Alexx Campbell '07, will replace the current Writing Fellow, Liz Angowski '05, who plans to attend Harvard Divinity School this fall, pursuing a dual master's degree in journalism and religion.
Qualified and eager, both McGrath and Campbell look to contribute much to the Writing Center. McGrath, a classics and English major, is a familiar face at the Writing Center already; he has been a Peer Tutor for three years as well as a writing assistant for five courses. Additionally, he is currently the senior associate editor for the Indicator, writes regularly for Circus, and has written sports articles in the past for The Amherst Student.
Campbell will add much talent to the Writing Center as well. As an anthropology major who has also taken a gamut of other social sciences courses, he brings much experience in writing the kinds of analytical essays with which the Writing Center frequently helps students.
He also worked during the past two summers as an assistant teacher at a middle-school ESL program in California, where he helped Spanish-speaking kids learn English as well as writing and computer skills.
Both McGrath and Campbell expressed enthusiasm for their upcoming jobs next year. "The Writing Center people are a great group of people," said Campbell. "It seems like a very supportive, fun-loving community develops around the Writing Center, which I can't wait to be a part of."
McGrath added that helping others with their writing is an enjoyable activity that is also very rewarding. "The intellectual stimulation that writing tutoring provides is only half its benefit; the other half is getting to know individuals who come in to the Writing Center, building relationships with them, and learning from other writers at the College," he explained.
Angowski, the outgoing Writing Fellow, spoke highly of the two incoming Writing Fellows. "Pat is a talented writer and a gifted tutor," she said. "Not a week goes by without someone telling me how much they've improved their writing with Pat's help. As for Alexx, I don't know him as well as I do Pat, but just from his interview, I can tell that his approachability and real desire to help students will make him a great fit for the job."
Angowski began her job at the Writing Center during Orientation this past August. Since then, she has been a valuable asset to the Writing Center, and she will be dearly missed by students and her fellow Writing Center workers.
She expressed sadness at the thought of leaving the College, explaining, "I love the Amherst community as much as I enjoy working with students one-on-one. As much as I'm excited to go on to graduate school, I don't know when I'll be this happy at a job again."
Angowski also remarked upon the value that being a Writing Fellow has had for her. "Reading the work your peers produce humbles you and helps you," she said. "I see students who are needlessly insecure about their writing ability, and I see students who know that they need help with writing, but are unsure about their argument. The best sessions are those in which you really feel as though you've helped a student take ownership of his or her voice and ideas so that they're confident in what they will write after they leave."