Westmont's writing center Writers' Corner

Corrie Bascom is a fourth-year Violin Performance major from Minneapolis, Minnesota (home to the second most attended state fair in the country). As her major may suggest, she loves music of all kinds; Bach, Taylor Swift, and the Avett Brothers are some favorites. She hopes to interact with as much art in as many different forms as possible during her lifetime, and that includes your writing! When not in class or in rehearsal, Corrie can often be found in her natural habitat, the music building, chatting with friends and practicing. She hopes to help you take your writing to the next level through her ability to break any task down into small, accessible pieces, her love for precise and helpful wording, and her passion for creating inspiring, motivational playlists.

Area of Study: Music

Marissa Candelaria is an English major and Theatre Arts minor who loves to listen to constant songs in her head while she is going about her day. To cope with mundane days in Fontana, CA, besides hanging out with her friends and family, Marissa loves to transport herself in worlds outside her wildest dreams. Her love of writing flourished when she couldn’t keep her adventure filled dreams and worlds in her head for much longer. One of her first and most vivid dreams is the very inspiration for the book she is determined to share with the world. When Marissa is not singing Taylor Swift at the top of her lungs or having her nose in a book, she probably can be found acting on the stage or anywhere in the theater’s vicinity. If you still can’t find her, you might have better luck seeing her emptying the book shelves at the nearest used bookstore.

Areas of Study: English, Theatre Arts

Elise Cho is a fourth-year English major with a double minor in Theatre and Studio Art. In her spare time, she enjoys going downtown to write (daydream) at a coffee shop or to poke around in thrift stores. She has a special fondness for frogs, the color green, and Wes Anderson movies. Elise is an avid reader of poetry and desires to publish her own collection of verse one day. She believes that good writing, similar to poetry, flows in a smooth, clear, and concise manner. Elise wants to encourage students to embrace the revision process and to see their rough drafts as place of potential.

Areas of Study: English, Theatre, Studio Art

Ashley Clark is a Theatre Arts and English double major who can trace back her literature-related canon event to when she spelt the word “evaporate” correctly in the second grade spelling bee. Since then, she has taken pride in expanding her vocabulary as much as possible—often remembering the list of “big words” posted on her refrigerator when she was six—and delighting in the utility of words as an art form; a pursuit that's certainly not inconvenienced by the fact that she is bilingual (understanding both English and Tagalog!). Majoring in the fields that she does, she takes pleasure in the subjects where they intersect, such as playwriting, poetry, literary analysis and interpretation, and stubbornly fixating on Shakespeare every now and then. Her favorite Shakespeare play is Othello by the way, if you were interested. When not meandering around the theater or typing up a storm in Google Docs, you can likely find Ashley walking to and from the mail center with her headphones on, visualizing epic film scenes in her head while she listens to her best carefully-curated Spotify playlists.

Areas of Study: Theatre Arts, English

Isabel Daludado is a senior English major, Writing minor, and Ethnic Studies minor who swears she was obsessed with reading and matcha before it was considered “performative”. She enjoys a smooth transition sentence and is obsessed with the em dash – despite all AI allegations. You can tell she is from Southern California from the amount of times she uses the word “like” while speaking, and enjoys writing because it gives her the platform to break free from those colloquial chains. She hopes to help others break free from their own chains of writer’s block and jumbled thoughts and is eager to turn both into an end product that is eloquent and meaningful.

Areas of Study: English, Writing, Ethnic Studies

Genna Eberhard is a Senior Music Education student desperately pursuing a Writing minor. When she is not picking up random instruments or plunging the depths of her Spotify album horde, she is plotting her escape to Iceland to pursue her calling as a nomadic shepherdess. Music and words have proved lifelong friends for Genna and she believes they are unique media to steward the gifts of space and time. Words give shape to the shapeless, forming our souls in the process (She is also a rather melodramatic poet, if you could not tell). She looks forward to shaping meaning with you and perhaps assailing you with song recommendations from time to time.

Areas of Study: Music, Writing

Avala Elwood is studying Political Science.  And yes, it is as cool as the spy movies make it seem . . . even though she has not had the chance to run after a bad guy in her heels yet.  Her bucket list includes multiple adventures that have to do with eating food in their namesake places: Boston Clam Chowder in Boston, Belgian Waffles in Belgium, and French Toast in France.  She will take anything with character and story over picture-perfect because Folgers campfire coffee always tastes better than a fancy latte, and that includes your writing. She is passionate about helping you map out and sift through seemingly foggy ideas until they are eloquently and concisely stated on paper. In other words, she enjoys the writing process!  She promises that she will make your grammar better than Yoda’s: writing, she does love. 

Area of Study: Political Science

Caleb Hook likes reading. Like so much. He taught his body not to get carsick as a child so that he could read on the go, and now that he drives himself around he’s just sad. After a semester in Britain, he can tell you all about the tea drinkers that lost that one war, though he’s become a tea drinker himself, and as a side benefit learned all about writing for the theatre. He would love to talk philosophy with you, but please don’t get him going on Plato if you have anything to get done. Please come visit him; if you don’t, then he will just sit there waiting in the empty room like an NPC, and that's a total bummer, man.

Areas of Study: English, Philosophy, Religious Studies

Audree Johnson is an English major with a concentration in Creative Writing whose passion for people gives her the greatest enjoyment in meeting new faces each day. She understands what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a tutoring session and has benefited from partnering up with like-minded souls to navigate the treacherous battles against her archnemesis, Math. (Rest assured, she has proudly conquered that beast and hasn’t any fear of it anymore.) Nowadays, she spends her free time reading fairy tales old and new, drinking hot tea, fawning over antiques, and accidentally staining paper with Earl Grey residue. When she isn’t reading or writing, you'll find her in Trader Joe’s, at the beach, taking a walk with a friend, or surrounded by kids at church. Wherever you are in your writing process, Audree wants you to know that she’s ready to battle it out with you until you've conquered it, too!

Areas of Study: English, Writing

My name is David Kvamme, and I am a senior English Major with a Minor in Writing. I am originally from a beach town called Santa Cruz, California, and I was admittedly more engaged writing a short story about surfing than actually surfing. In the past, I have enjoyed engaging antiquated literary styles, especially composing an analytical essay on Longfellow’s poetry. I also have a sporadic knowledge of fandom lore, and enjoy discussing the “Han shot first” debate and the ancestry of Aragorn with much enthusiasm. To apply a Tolkien quote in a new way, I am a firm believer that “not all who wander are lost” when it comes to writing. I have found it often takes exploration and experimentation to reach a breakthrough or a new idea. Wherever you are in your writing journey, I would love to help you along the way. 

Areas of Study: English, Writing

Alexandra Lo is a Psychology and Spanish double major on a mission to become functionally fluent in at least ten languages. Her life consists of telling tales and consuming them. She suspects that yours does too. Whether it’s filming the Westmont women’s soccer team as they score the winning goal, or painting a portrait of a polka-dancing pair; whether it’s telling the story of the God who makes us whole, or typing up a novel until her fingertips are bare–she knows stories help us understand one another. While she loves poetic language, she also finds great value in concision and clarity. She wants to help you use your words wisely so that others can understand the precious things you have to say. If you would like to hear about her favorite use for words, ask her about the novel she is writing.

Areas of Study: Psychology, Spanish

Ellie Mahooti is a second year English and Religious Studies major, and she is from Colorado Springs, CO. She loves any excuse to get into the mountains, especially skiing, hiking, and running. Her favorite things right now are drinking tea (especially with friends), eating chocolate, and making music. She is passionate about writing because it is a source of self expression and it helps create meaningful connections across barriers. She finds great delight in turning complex thoughts into clear words, and she would love to come alongside you at any point in the writing process.

Areas of Study: English, Religious Studies

A native of the Sacramento area in Northern California, Andreas Olvera is a fourth-year Math major with passions for reading, random album trivia, and GamePigeon showdowns with friends. Andreas grew up surrounded by books and music, and enjoys exploring the many planes of interaction between the words we speak and the music we make. He hopes to make writing more accessible for students in the sciences (a field not generally associated with readable prose) and to be a kind and supportive presence in the Writers’ Corner.

Area of Study: Math

Evelyn Rose is studying English, Education, and Religious Studies. She grew up in a small mountain town in Colorado, where she learned two things: how to find her way out of the woods (eventually) and how to appreciate the beauty of the messy in-between. Whether she’s photosynthesizing in the sunshine, watercolor painting at the beach, or adding yet another craft to her Pinterest board, Evelyn finds joy in creating, and she loves to walk alongside students as they shape their own ideas into vibrant expression. To her, writing isn’t about creating the perfect first draft (spoiler alert: they don’t exist) but instead an empowering journey to find your voice, share your story, and maybe even have some fun.

Areas of Study: English, Education, Religious Studies

Hailey Spencer, an English major with a psychology minor, enjoys taking a few classes in RS and Education (on top of her major and minor classes) just for the fun of it (not really, she graduates this year and can't fit in three minors, but you get the idea). When her schedule allows, because she doesn’t understand the concept of not overcommitting, she will just as easily go galavanting on horseback or dancing in the rain, as she would open up a good book with a cup of tea or coffee(do not ask her to choose a favorite, she can’t)in hand. She looks forward to helping get your ideas out of your head and onto the page with excitement because no rough draft can be too rough so long as a draft exists. Her favorite word continues to be “serendipity” while her least favorite is “is”. She believes in the power of saying a lot by only saying a little (although she struggles to do so herself). She also finds that “happily ever after” will always be too easy of an ending and will challenge you to think the same. Hailey eagerly awaits learning your stories and sharing her love of the power of well crafted words with you. 

Areas of study: English, Psychology

Phoebe Tilburt is an English/Chemistry double major with a passion for indecision. This has led her to a life bridging the gaps between the arts and sciences. From a young age, she has had a passion for grammar that extended beyond the classroom into her everyday life, but rest assured that her conversations with you will be much more productive than replacing the occasional semicolon with a period. When she’s not playing with molecules or fictional characters, you might find her singing in College Choir or getting creative with DC food. She’s excited to talk about your ideas and help you get as excited about your writing as she is!

Areas of Study: English, Chemistry

Celeste Van Dien is a senior pursuing an art history major with a writing minor. Growing up, she preferred movies to books, belonging to the “why read it when you can watch it?” mindset, and had a slight aversion toward writing, at least, she felt she did not retain the required skills for it. One day, many moons ago, Celeste obtained a copy of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and since then, she has not read a piece of literature outside of the 18th and 19th centuries, unless by force. You may or may not have noticed the immense impression that these two-hundred-year-old pieces of literature have had on her, as, much to her professors' dismay, she has a tendency toward the “serial” comma (she is a serial user of them, if you will). That being said, she vows not to let them (the commas) infiltrate your work. There is nothing quite akin to the feeling of picking the “perfect word,” so her hope is that, together and with the aid of the “all-knowing thesaurus,” she can help you find yours!

Areas of Study: History, Writing

While Paula Almudena Winkler draws a blank anytime someone asks her for a fun fact, it is quite unique that her middle name harks back to the patron saint of Madrid, Spain. When she isn’t fervently studying her myriad of interests she calls “majors” and “minors,” she is probably completing a new random goal that she has convinced herself is absolutely necessary in the real world, such as embroidering Converse or learning to drive stick shift. As for writing, Paula is fascinated by the precision of language, namely the specificity of her native tongue, German (for example, Treppenwitz, literally ‘stair joke’, what you think to say to someone as soon as the conversation is over) and the simultaneous vagueness of Spanish (ahorita, anyone?). Stop by to chat about the guinea pig life of an oldest child, why you should study abroad (in Mexico!) or how you can overcome writer’s block and figure out the grammar rules you lost sometime between fifth grade and now.

Areas of Study: Political Science, Spanish, Religious Studies