For the last two years, I've helped students of all ages and levels strengthen their grasp on the basics of good writing. From improving simple structure and syntax to developing a personal voice to expanding vocabulary, I've developed exercises that run the gamut of grammar and mechanics. As a former journalist, I am meticulous to a fault with these elements, and take great pride in my ability to make any student's writing cleaner, tighter and grammatically correct. On the content side of things, I've worked with creative writing majors, teaching them the ins and outs of building narrative arcs, creating three-dimensional characters, setting scenes and twisting plotlines. Regardless of the assignment, if it's writing-based, the odds are good that I have experience helping a student improve in the same area.

The ability to write with clarity and individuality is not easily obtained. It's a concrete craft as much as it is a way of thinking, and it embodies a skill that's as rare as it is undervalued. Sometimes it involves breaking the rules you have been taught. Often it involves scrapping your work and starting from scratch. But when you realize you've got it, you will know you have acquired a skill that will serve you well in almost any kind of college class and career. It's a concrete craft as much as it is a way of thinking, and a true hallmark of an intelligent mind. I take pieces of fiction and nonfiction, reportage and feature stories, classroom submissions and personal statements, and help students' instill in them the universal principles of good writing. I love my job; my enthusiasm for it is endless, because it's legitimately fun to me.

But on a more normal level, I???m a sports and music buff who, thanks to TiVo, hasn???t missed an episode of Jeopardy in years