Reading and Writing
I'd like to give a shout out to international doctoral students preparing applications for post-doc research positions and professorships. My clients inspire me with their dedication and determination, and with the importance of their research. Fully engaged with the...
In a New Place
I haven’t posted for a while because like everyone, I’m reeling from recent events. I lost it completely when a colleague, who’s always been a step ahead, posted on Instagram the names of the children and adults murdered at Robb Elementary School. This was a few days...
Revisions
I’ve been working with doctoral candidates, on revising their cover letter, statements and writing samples. I hope to be editing a complete dissertation later this year, after it’s translated from Spanish. The candidates are now pursuing research opportunities and...
Doctoral Statements
Last month, I had the pleasure of working with two doctoral candidates who are entering the next phase of their academic careers: post-grad opportunities and professorships. Doctoral students thrive on feedback and understand the need for revision. We worked on the...
It’s Great to Be Back
Hello from West Contra Costa—it’s great to be back! I missed the wide-open skies. I’ve been walking the new trail from Pinole to Hercules, overlooking the old trail where we used to scuttle across the tracks and clamber up the rocks jutting out of the bay. Today I...
The Thesis Statement
When I was a writing tutor at College of Alameda Learning Resource Center, the head of the English Department came up with a model for a thesis statement. It’s appeal for me was not that a student could fill in the blanks and create a thesis—if putting complex...
Contractions
A contraction is a shortened version of two small words. It's made by dropping one of the internal sounds and replacing it with an apostrophe: "it is" drops the short i sound in the middle and becomes "it's". Similarly, "did not" becomes "didn't" and "we are" becomes...