By Cari Dow, SNHU class of ‘21
Before I finished my Bachelor of Art in creative writing, I knew I would go straight into the MFA Program for creative writing. Partly because I wanted to power on without a lot of time to dwell between degrees. I felt motivated and wanted to stay that way. But what I really wanted was the glory of being able to say I had an MFA, its prestige meant I had succeeded in something that was a bit elite.
My passion was writing. I loved telling stories with the written word and was addicted to the readers’ responses, so I dove into my courses and worked hard to do well in them. I loved learning how to conquer the elements and art it takes to be good at it. And I respected the talent it took to teach these courses with the level of knowledge and expertise my instructors possessed. Each course, each instructor, and every peer took me one step closer to my end goal, completing my degree and becoming a writer.
When I was halfway through my MFA, I realized I loved the idea of teaching new writers the same way I was taught. I wanted to guide them in learning the tools necessary to craft a compelling story. I shifted gears just slightly and took a few courses that would give me practical skills in teaching, specifically writing.
As I inched closer and closer to the finish line, I kept the thought “what’s next” in the back of my mind. I got my resume and cover letter in order and started casually looking around Indeed.com and HighEdJobs.com. I marked jobs that looked interesting. I was kind of looking for something that I could use in the writing world or the academic world or if I was lucky, both.
It was impeccable timing when I received an email from SNHU telling me how to utilize all the resources it had to offer for job opportunities like the Career Services and Career Resources. One day I was looking around on Indeed and came across a job posting from SNHU for Peer Tutors for Academic Support, and it was remote. I read through the job summary and the list of duties it entailed to be a Peer Tutor. Most of the duties were exactly what I had been looking for:
Guides students in program-specific assignments and course work.
Strengthen students' skills in writing, citations, and various coursework while providing structure, strategies, and support.
Teaches students in course-specific concepts and rubric comprehension.
Serves as a facilitator for student success by instructing students in writing, reading comprehension, and reviewing academic work to ensure academic success.
This was what I had envisioned when I thought of working in academia. I thought it was too good to be true and held my breath while I looked at the Required qualifications:
Must be a student working toward an MA, MS, MFA, etc. Check.
Must have a minimum GPA of 3.5. Check.
Must have a high level of writing knowledge (that meant how to write essays, proper citations, grammar, structure, etc.). Check? I thought to myself, do I though?
I started to second guess my education, the skills I spent years honing and practicing, and the abilities that were drilled into me from dozens and dozens of courses. I wanted that job so bad I could taste it. An opportunity with convenient remote work meant I wouldn’t have to worry about childcare or wake up an hour earlier to scrape two inches of ice and snow off my windshield. It afforded me the flexibility in my schedule to work around school and to still have time to dedicate to my own creative writing. So, I shrugged and applied. A few weeks later I received an email asking if I was interested in an interview for the Peer Tutor position.
The interview process was virtual and casual, but professional. I felt at ease, and it was more like I was catching up with an old friend instead of staring into the intense blank stares of potential employers who made me nervous. The second round of the interview was with another manager from Academic Support who wanted to investigate more of my qualifications and why I thought I would be someone they should hire.
I regaled her with my resume bullet points and gave her an in-depth rendition of every single creative, informal, academic, and so on, writing element one could possibly hope to learn. After my over-the-top spiel of why they should hire me, she said she would email me a schedule for onboarding and training. And that was that. I had the job.
After weeks of training and shadowing, I met with my first student who needed extensive help in writing their persuasive essay. As it turns out, I did have a high level of writing knowledge.
Cari Dow lives Upstate New York, where she traded the aesthetics of city life for feet of snow. She’s a sucker for a good book and a truly scary movie, and likes both like she likes her food, enthralling and sinful. She is a mother to two daughters and a son. She works as a Peer Tutor For Southern New Hampshire University, where she received a BA in Creative Writing and English and an MFA in Creative Writing. In her free time, she entertains herself with her stories and binge-watches The Office. You can find her on Twitter and on LinkedIn.