PrepNow Tutor - Emelye K.
Emelye is an English literature scholar with wider expertise. She holds many degrees: a Scottish MA in history and English literature from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland (equivalent to a BA in the United States); an MSt (Master of Studies, equivalent to an MA) in English literature from the University of Oxford in England, earning a distinction for her master’s thesis; and a PhD in English literature from the University of Virginia. In addition to this array of humanities training, Emelye is a firm supporter of holistic education; she thinks that we all possess the capacity to be well-rounded scholars. “I don't believe that anyone leans naturally towards the humanities or STEM: this is a story we tell ourselves, but everyone can be good at both,” she says.
Emelye has broad teaching and tutoring experience. First, she began tutoring in 2014 as a graduate student at the University of Virginia, working in the university writing center. There, for over five years, she worked with students from all specializations. Also at the University of Virginia, Emelye worked as a graduate teaching assistant, offering instruction in freshman writing, introductory literature courses, Shakespeare, and the school’s summer transition program (assisting new students in their transition to college).
Emelye also possesses years of additional education experience: tutoring GED students, both native and non-native speakers; counseling university instructors on best practices as a consultant for the Center for Teaching Excellence in Charlottesville, VA; and teaching full-time as an assistant professor of English at Fort Lewis College.
Emelye’s love of teaching and tutoring began as soon as she got into the classroom as an instructor. She says, “When I started teaching in graduate school, I immediately liked it more than conducting research; I am proud that I get the chance to teach students an approach to learning and a way of thinking.” Emelye’s way is founded upon student-centered and student-led instruction. She always begins by asking students what they need, what draws them to the work, and what they love or hate about the work. She believes that students need to feel emotion in order to learn—enthusiasm, joy, confusion—and that they should talk about those emotions.
When she is not working, Emelye mostly likes to spend all the time she can with her husband and two children. Of course, she continues to be an avid reader (especially of old literature), and she has a particular affinity for studying what she calls the “gossipy parts of British history.” Finally, Emelye can tell anyone who asks the differences between a simple knit left loop and a purl left loop, as she happily admits to being an obsessive knitter.
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