The Honors College Writing Center

Bailey is a senior at NAU this year. She studies English, Spanish, Rhetoric, Literature and Latin American Studies, and plans to pursue Education. She is from Tempe, Arizona, but she spent many summers in Flagstaff during her younger years, and loves the atmosphere. She has an affinity for words, dogs, enthusiasm, semicolons, and all things sweet (especially cookies). She would love to see all the pictures of your pets!

Kiara is a senior studying for her BSEd in Secondary English Education and certificates in Literature and Linguistics. She is also in the Accelerated Master’s program in Teaching English as a Second Language. She was born and raised in the warm (and sometimes scorching hot) embrace of Phoenix and decided to go to school in Flagstaff to escape the heat and experience a different climate. Kiara is a first-generation college student and a first-generation Mexican-American. She is extremely proud of and passionate about her heritage and culture, as well as education and literature. She wants to be a secondary school teacher not only teach students literature and writing (and earn a disappointing salary), but to ignite the light within each one of them so that they, too, can pursue a career with their passions at their core. She became a tutor for the Honors Writing Center to apply what she has been learning in her English/teaching classes. Kiara wants to help students improve their writing, no matter how long it takes or how much the students argue that it is useless; she believes that they can apply the skills they learn in the Writing Center to their careers and lives. Fun fact: her favorite font is Times New Roman (I wonder why!).

Katherine is currently a junior double majoring in Political Science and Criminology and Criminal Justice, with minors in International Studies and Emergency Management. She is from Chandler, Arizona, but prefers the cooler weather and trees in Flagstaff. In her free time, Katherine likes to unwind by watching Netflix, painting, and being outside. If given the chance to do anything in the world, Katherine would have a dog sanctuary and spend all of her days outside playing with hundreds of dogs. Given her majors, Katherine loves to discuss politics, environmental ethics, education, and anything else that is not appropriate at the dinner table.

Michaela is a Secondary Education major with an emphasis in English, and she plans on teaching high school students someday. She spends most of her time obsessively playing the Sims 4, re-watching Disney movies for the millionth time, and embarrassing herself during Zumba class. Originally from the scorching city of Peoria, Arizona, Michaela can often be spotted bundled up in a fuzzy blanket while dreaming of summer pool parties. As a sophomore, Michaela still has plenty of time to explore all that NAU has to offer, including unsuccessfully dodging Starship robots and unwisely procrastinating on homework. To catch the rare Michaela, one must visit her natural habitat, the Honors Writing Center, by scheduling an appointment at Honors.Writing@nau.edu.

Holly is an English major with a Japanese minor. After college, I look forward to traveling to Japan. I grew up in Agoura Hills, California, which is a suburban area just outside of the city of Los Angeles. I am an anime enthusiast, as well as a self-proclaimed nerd and a cat lover. My weekends are spent mostly reading and watching Netflix. Stop by the Writing Center if you want to discuss your favorite movie or television show, or share cat stories.

Gabby is a sophomore majoring in Environmental Studies, with minors in International Studies and Arabic. She grew up in Gilbert, Arizona, and loves going back home every summer to coach recreational swim team! Besides swimming, Gabby enjoys activities such as archery, horseback riding, fencing, and writing the beginnings of fantasy novels that will probably never see their conclusions. In case graduating doesn’t work out (or maybe even if it does), her backup plan is to join a jousting troupe and travel to Renaissance Faires across the country. In her free time, Gabby can usually be found under a shady tree playing her tank drum or reading a book, or simply peoplewatching and musing about the meaning of life. Open questioning and discussions about typically taboo topics such as spirituality, politics, sexuality, and ethics make Gabby the happiest girl on the planet.

Trevor is a Journalism major and Sociology minor who enjoys avoiding responsibility and mulling over his love for adjectives. Trevor’s childhood was entertained by the sights and sounds of Flagstaff, although he also spent considerable time in places such as Maui and San Francisco. As a measly sophomore, Trevor is unsure of his future. Entirely. Instead of addressing this uncertainty, Trevor prefers living in a state of ambiguity and imprecision. Should any berserk person choose to converse with him, they may want to talk about basketball, traveling, or the unparalleled capability of communication.

Arielle is a senior finishing up her degree in English with a minor in film. She was born in Amberg, Germany, and has traveled ever since, somehow ending up in Flagstaff for the time being. When she isn’t braving the cold, Arielle enjoys reading books about far away lands, listening to classic rock, and ruining films for her friends and family by overanalyzing them. After graduation, she intends to get a Master’s degree in English Secondary Education so she can continue to help students find and develop their writing voices.

Barbara has been the Writing Center Coordinator for the past 10 years.  A graduate of U. C. Berkeley, she worked for 15 years as a writer and editor in the San Francisco Bay Area in public relations, marketing, trade journals, educational associations, rural healthcare, and healthcare computer systems. Within those fields, she wrote magazine articles, newsletters, press releases, product brochures, speeches, video and slide show scripts, grant proposals, and puns. After leaving California for the wilds of Arizona, she taught on the Navajo Reservation for Navajo Community College and St. Michael’s High School, worked as a freelance writer and editor, and served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for abused/neglected children. Her husband is happily retired; they have two wonderful (sometimes) sons, ages 23 and 25; sixteen chickens; and two cats, one of which is completely insane.