"You can do this! All you need is a friendly coach who is fun to work with and knows exactly what the academics expect. I can break it down for you. I taught the required Composition 1 at a local college. What's more, I served on the writing placement committee. That means I helped decide which students wrote well enough to take Composition 1, which earns credit toward graduation. Otherwise, you need to take extra courses to improve your skills. These courses take time and money, and they don't count toward graduation!

I'm a born writer and I love teaching others how to write well. In addition to teaching college freshmen, for the last five years I've specialized in teaching students preparing for college. This means helping students gain confidence writing an academic essay and unlocking the secrets of academic reading. I help students organize their thoughts to form rock- solid thesis statements with excellent support. We use highlighters as we learn to identify the main idea in a text. My students, including English Language Learners, are always amazed...and relieved at the progress they make. Formerly an editor at Harvard Magazine, I have written three books and countless articles for magazines and newspapers." less...