Tutor Spotlight: Stephanie Millett

Stephanie Millet has been a tutor at the Writing Center for several years. She is a doctoral candidate in the Curriculum and Instruction program in the College of Education at Texas Tech. She has a focus in Language, Literacy, and Diversity Studies. Stephanie said that she chose this area of study because she was interested in the possibility of researching and developing a writing pedagogy for the first-year composition courses. She decided to attend Texas Tech because it seemed to be the best fit for her educational goals.

A fun fact about Stephanie is that she just became a grandma to her first grandchild, who is named Kaylen; “She [Kaylen] is a testament to all that is beautiful about humanity.” Another interesting fact is that Stephanie is a cancer survivor. She is 20 years in remission from leukemia, which she battled as a single mother raising three young boys. She said, “Many of my experiences during that battle with leukemia, primarily my interactions with healthcare providers, also were a testament to all that is beautiful about humanity.”

Stephanie decided to become a tutor because she wanted to have more one-on-one interaction with student writers to better understand their struggles and strengths. She was originally a first-year writing instructor before working at the Writing Center. She said, “At the time, I didn’t realize that the experience as a tutor would also challenge and deepen my empathetic connection with students.” Stephanie continued to explain that she loves tutoring because it is so different from the classroom environment; “Tutoring has developed my ability, as a writing instructor, to recognize students who are struggling and to challenge those students who are ready to elevate their writing style while deepening their understanding of how language functions.”

Lastly, we asked Stephanie, “If you could have dinner with three people, living, dead, or fictional, who would it be and why?” She answered, “Do Barack and Michelle count as one or two? I'll count them as one. Second, Abraham Lincoln. As you can tell, I dig presidents. I think why is self-explanatory. The third person is the most significant, which is why I chose him last, so I could end with a tender piece of my soul. My third person would be my oldest son, who died a decade ago. I have a lot of questions for him, as I'm sure he has for me, but I don't think that's why I would want to have dinner with him. I just want to see him one more time, so I could cherish the last moments we had together.”