Hey everyone! My name is Paola. I’m a senior majoring in Psychology and minoring in Race and Ethnicity Studies.
As a child, I always enjoyed reading stories. Reading from a young age helped me expand my vocabulary, which passed into my writing. In elementary and middle school, I completed a reading report every summer. As I moved on to 4th grade, I had the opportunity to create a short story for a Living Values class. It awakened my interest in writing for the first time. I would sit at my desk for hours and write from excerpts to book-length stories.

As someone who speaks two languages (English and Spanish) and is a perfectionist, I had a lot of anxiety about the work produced. I was concerned that something would not make sense. I also dreaded starting the writing process because I felt that what I had to say was not as important. When I transferred to Southwestern University, the DEWC helped me develop confidence in my writing. I noticed the areas I needed to improve and stepped out of my comfort zone. My biggest project has been writing a research paper, something I had never tackled before. I felt nervous, but the different tips I learned at the DEWC became beyond
helpful! I’m an introvert, and over time I have found a place in writing where I could be myself.

I am also available to those peers that need to write papers in Spanish! I am a native Spanish speaker myself, originally from the Dominican Republic. I love teaching others about my culture and learning about theirs! It is fascinating how two may be more alike than they
think!

As a consultant, I want to provide a space where my peers feel capable of knowing what they can create, working their way to being strong writers, as well as me learning from them every step of the way.