Director Dr. Deidre Garriott, Instructor

Assistant Director Brittany (she/her)

Brittany is First-Year English instructor and is trained to teach Business Writing as well as Technical and Professional Communication. She has tutored in several Writing Centers and has specific experience working with ESL students. Her MFA background makes her partial to creative writing, but she also enjoys helping students craft strong personal statements for job and/or graduate school applications.

Tutor Alexus (she/her)

My name is Alexus! My pronouns are she/her/ hers. I’m from Eastman, GA and majored in English during my undergraduate career at Middle Georgia State University. I enjoy working with FYE students and English majors. I have a year of experience tutoring undergraduate English majors. I also particularly love working with students who are overly stressed about their academic endeavors because she, too, stresses about her work, but knows that everyone is in this together and if we just take a second and breathe, everything is going to be okay.  I love Harry Potter and take much pride in my Slytherin House. My favorite book is Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. For fun, I like to go antiquing, getting coffee with my friends, and going to Universal Studios. I’m so excited for this new chapter in my journey.

Tutor Andrea (she/her)

My name is Andrea (she/her/hers). I have lived in Columbia, SC my whole life, but I have been outside the country several times. I attended Columbia College and graduated this past spring. I have taught English in China, and this summer I have worked as a camp counselor at Riverbanks Zoo. I volunteer with Prisma Health Hospice and the Richland Library. I am studying Rhetoric and Composition. I enjoy reading, writing, drawing, and rock climbing. I have helped tutor students from various backgrounds and majors. I enjoy working with ENGL 101 and 102 students, as I have 3 years of experience tutoring for those classes at other colleges. I also enjoy working with students whose native language is not English.

Tutor Ashlyn (she/her)

I am a first-year M.A. student in the English department. I am primarily interested in 20th century American literature, but I would like to at least dabble in children’s literature. I graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.A. in English. I especially enjoy working with FYE and international students. In my spare time, I enjoy visiting museums, reading WWII memoirs, making sure everyone knows I have an adorable Siamese cat named Sabine, and thinking about Texas.

Tutor Evan (he/him)

Evan is an M.F.A fiction student from St. Louis. He graduated from Drake University with a B.A. in Creative Writing and Computer Science in 2019. Everything he's interested in is cool and interesting and something you'd definitely want to hear about. He is interested in literature that explores the intersection of technology, politics, and satire.  In addition to creative work, Evan enjoys helping students of all disciplines with their writing.

Tutor Grace (she/her)

Grace is an ex-paramedic who earned her BA in Writing while working part-time as a first-responder. Short fiction publications in small presses and runs an online magazine with friends. Also obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons, alongside other nerdy pursuits. As a tutor, Grace specializes in personal essays and literature reviews, but she has a wide range of experience in editing for academic and creative writing projects.

Tutor Grayson (she/her)

Hi! I’m Grayson (she/her) and I’m a first year GIA at UofSC. My whole life I have been an avid reader and writer, which has pushed me to pursue my schooling and career centered around the novel and literature. A fun fact about me is that in high school I had a blog where I posted reviews on books authors would send me in the mail! In addition to being a book nerd, I am also super outdoorsy and love to be adventurous when I can. I love fashion, baking, music, art, photography—and my two year old, long-haired cat Stella pretty much rules over my world (and often only tolerates me). As well as helping writers coming from all backgrounds and disciplines, some of Grayson’s interests are children’s and YA Literature, African American Literature, and comics/graphic novels.  She also enjoys content and copywriting, such as creating blog posts, and even has experience making her own blog! I’m excited for this new journey and can’t wait to meet everyone!

Tutor Jacob (he/him)

Jacob (he/him) grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago, where he lived until moving to Columbia. After graduating from Wheaton College in 2018, he worked as an ophthalmic technician for three years, where he discovered his love for poetry. (He'd always liked reading it, but writing it was new.) He is now an MFA student of poetry. Jacob's other interests include running, film, music, his dog (Moby), and his cat (Lunchbox). Jacob enjoys writing poetry and reading anything literary, but he also has some experience with scientific research. He loves to learn from and work with writers of all backgrounds.

Tutor Jaimee (she/they)

Jaimee is an M.F.A. Fiction student from eastern North Carolina. They graduated from Appalachian State University with a BA in Creative Writing and a minor in Philosophy. Their hobbies include reading and writing fantasy fiction, D&D, and hiking. While Jaimee enjoys helping writers of all backgrounds, they especially like working writers across the humanities. They also enjoy working with First Year English students.

Tutor Jesse (he/him)

Jesse (he/him/his) graduated from Winthrop University in December 2018 with a degree in English and a concentration in creative writing. He’s a reader for Witness, an intern at Word West, and an editorial assistant, reader, and interviewer for CRAFT.

Tutor Katie (she/they)

Katie is a first-year student in the English M.A. program. She graduated from Aurora University in 2021 with a B.A. in English and Spanish. Right now she studies contemporary American literature with a focus on queer theory and stylistics, and her main interest is in the stylistics of transgender and nonbinary representation in literature. While she can offer the most tailored feedback to literature, rhetoric/composition, and queer/gender studies students, she loves working with students from all disciplines. She has experience working under multiple different style guides as well as practice translating between Spanish and English which equips her to help first-generation and ESL students learn to navigate English-language academic writing. Outside of class, she loves spending way too much time on music, fanfiction, and YouTube.

Tutor Laiken (she/her)

Laiken is a first-year PhD student in the English Department specializing in Rhetoric and Composition. Her research interests include identity and academic discourse, composition pedagogy, and rhetorical theory. Laiken graduated from Washington College with a B.A. in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. In her free time, Laiken loves reading fantasy novels, exploring nature, and spending time with friends. While Laiken works with people from a wide variety of disciplines, she especially enjoys supporting students in FYE. She also has experience in resume and cover letter writing. 

Tutor Leanna (she/her)

Leanna is a first-year M.A. student in the English department. She graduated in 2016 from Wofford College with degrees in English and Spanish and a Creative Writing concentration. Since then, she spent two years teaching English in Spain, one as an Americorps member, and one as a book buyer for a small giftshop, and she's excited to be back on a campus and in classrooms. Leanna has worked with English language learners at various levels and enjoys brainstorming papers, talking about proofreading strategies, finding the patterns of grammar, and working with students writing about literature or history. Leanna enjoys live music, traveling, movies, outside adventures, and time with her dog, Florence.

Tutor Matt (he/him)

Matt is a first year MFA candidate specializing in Fiction. He’s particularly interested in combining his passion for the natural world with his love for writing and has written several short stories set in local Congaree National Park. Despite his love for the naturalists, he tends to model his work after the modernist American fiction that he was raised on, namely Hemingway, Faulkner and Hunter S. Thompson. He loves working with first-year students studying English languages and literature, as well as those interested in Spanish or Criminal Justice.

Tutor Megan (she/her)

Megan is a first-year graduate student, pursuing joint Master's degrees in English Literature and Library and Information Science. She earned a Bachelor's degree in English with minors in Dance Performance and Public Relations from UofSC before working in communications in Washington, DC. Megan enjoys working with first-year undergraduate students as they establish their own writing style in First-Year English. She also appreciates brainstorming with students at the beginning phases of papers and helping them organize their ideas. She loves visiting bookstores, practicing yoga, cooking, and spending time with her rescue dog.