Welcome

Welcome to College Ready Writing. This is the more informal side of my new business venture, a tutoring, editing and College Readiness Course, all offered online. Visit the business website, www.collegereadywriting.com! You can also follow me on Twitter (@readywriting) or become a fan on facebook (College Ready Writing).

But I digress.

I have lived in the university since I was 19 (or 17, depending on how you want to view CEGEP, or pre-college, in Quebec). I have been a teacher since I was 15 when started coaching swimming. My dream was to be a college/university English professor on the tenure-track. I also dreamed of having a family. I managed to get both (the job and the family), but live forced me to choose between the two. I chose family.

Fate has a strange way of taking you where you need to go: I chose to follow my husband for his PhD, and ended up with my first real job adjuncting at Cal State, San Bernardino. I was able to teach writing and literature in a supportive environment to non-traditional students. If it weren't for that job, I would not have received my tenure-track position at FAMU. I have to believe that following my husband (and now with two kids under the age of three) a second time will lead to something equally rewarding. If I hadn't followed him, I wouldn't currently find myself not teaching this semester which has given me the time to start this business.

This is such a new venture and the feedback I have received from friends and colleagues has been so positive. I think there is a need out there for a course that prepares students, especially minority and under-privileged students, in a way that doesn't cost a lot or displaces them from their lives. I just need to get the word out.

This space will also be where I will be discussing current issues in higher education, the teaching of reading and writing, and the (admittedly difficult, yet liberating) process of leaving higher ed to start my own business. Enjoy the ride.