It’s been a long year, with the waning of the Pandemic and a lingering sense of anxiety among students, staff, and faculty. So with great relief, and gratitude, I want to congratulate our graduating seniors for their hard work.
A few pieces of news stand out in Spring 2022. First, we had two recipients for Consultant of the Year, an annual award for graduates; faculty nominate Writing Consultants for this honor. And the winners are Maya Lieberman and Jon Gandara.
Jon and Maya finish their time at Richmond with signature accomplishments that marry service and peer assistance. Jon not only assisted several classes in different fields of study, but he also found time to proofread drafts of every faculty summary submitted this year by Consultants working in our Center. He and Joe Essid would then discuss any summaries that needed more. Jon’s job helped to prepare him for the painstaking duties he’ll undertake as a law student at the University of Mississippi.
Maya also worked with different courses, long assisting in Professor Outka’s General Education courses in literature. This year, she helped freshman writers in Representing Civil Rights, a first-year seminar taught by Professor Patricia Herrera in our Department of Theatre and Dance. She will begin work with BookBub in the Editorial & Production Co-op, editing and writing content for the company and its community of book lovers.
Maya and Jon will be recognized in our Commencement program. To both students, congratulations and Godspeed.
Other Consultants are bound for exciting jobs and graduate work. In no particular order save how early I received the news…
- Ben Weiser has been accepted for the program Master of Public Policy at Oxford University. He is receiving the Jepson scholarship for Oxford, to fund his graduate work.
- Erin Derubertis was hired as a Data Engineer at a software company called Tresata in Charlotte, NC. She reports that “my writing skills came in handy even in a data-focused position.”
- Olivia Gallmeyer has been accepted into a Master’s of Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies at Brandeis.
- Sophia McWilliams will be working for Kobre and Kim, a global law firm in New York City, for the next year or two before attending law school.
Of course it is with sadness that we bid all of our graduates farewell. If you have news about your work after leaving Richmond, please let us know and I’ll crow about it (there’a a final metaphor) here.
Congratulations to all of you! It’s so much fun to see you go on to bigger and better things. I would never be able to manage my style of teaching without the help of writing consultants. You have made a difference for so many students. Thank you.