Whether she is giving tours to prospective students, teaching children martial arts or responding to people on the Crisis Text Line, Megan Minor (Psychology ’23) clearly has a passion for helping others. Another of her greatest joys is writing, and she has shared her expertise with countless classmates over the last three years as a writing consultant and peer supervisor for NC State’s Academic Success Center (ASC).
Minor began working as a writing consultant for the Writing Center within the ASC as a sophomore during the tumultuous fall 2020 semester. She knew when she accepted the job that all her sessions would be virtual, but she embraced the challenge and came up with creative ways to engage her peers and help them hone their writing skills via Zoom.
“It wasn’t as hard of a transition for me as it was for some people who had already been working there for a while,” Minor said. “Virtual sessions were all I knew, so it was actually almost a harder transition going from virtual to in-person when we came back to campus.”
In her writing sessions, Minor has helped students with everything from papers to literature reviews to lab reports and everything in between. In addition to proofreading, her primary goal is simply to help her undergraduate peers become better writers by giving them constructive feedback that they can use on current assignments and in the future. While Minor works strictly with undergraduates, the Writing Center also assists graduate students with their written assignments and dissertations.
“We try to emphasize that it’s a peer relationship and not just telling other students what to do,” she said. “I really try to help them build up their writing and editing skills and teach them how to do things better on their own moving forward.”
Service and leadership have been common themes during Minor’s time at NC State. Prior to the pandemic, she participated in an Alternative Service Break trip to the Dominican Republic and studied abroad for a summer through the NC State Prague program.
Wendy VanDellon, assistant director for the ASC and Minor’s supervisor, recognized her potential early on and has witnessed her growth over the past three years. VanDellon served as Minor’s mentor for Student Leadership and Engagement’s Leadership Development Program, and more recently nominated her as a Howling Success.
“Megan is a leader across campus,” VanDellon said. “She volunteers and works as a tour guide for the admissions office, Technician photographer and in a research lab on campus. Last semester, Megan also gained a new title at the Academic Success Center of peer supervisor, adding the ability to formally assist new and returning writing consultants in the growth of their tutoring skills and techniques.”
Minor has found that her work at the ASC perfectly blends her passions for writing and helping others.
“My work at the Writing Center has been really helpful because I work with so many different types of people in that program, and you work with all types of people in counseling, too,” she said. “It’s really helped build my leadership and communication skills, and having the ability to form those peer-to-peer relationships is also helpful in any field.”
Once she graduates this spring, Minor plans to become a youth counselor. Later, she hopes to earn a master’s degree and, ultimately, a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and continue her research on eating disorders. In the meantime, she wants to continue working in the counseling field and gaining experience.
Outside of school, Minor has already mentored many youths as a martial arts instructor in her hometown of Richmond, Va. She has been involved in martial arts and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu since a young age and even earned her third-degree black belt in high school.
As a Howling Success, Minor is pleased to be recognized — and also to bring recognition to the ASC.
“I’m really honored to be recognized and that what I’m doing is important and interesting enough to share with the NC State community,” she said. “Coming out of COVID, it’s kind of hard for students to remember — or find out — what all the university has to offer, so I think this is a cool way to highlight some of the things that we can be part of while we’re here.”
The Howling Success award recognizes undergraduate students for their outstanding work in campus leadership, community service and other areas in the Division of Academic and Student Affairs. If you know someone you consider a Howling Success, nominate them here: https://dasa.ncsu.edu/student-life/howling-success/.
This post was originally published in DASA.
- Categories:
