Our Team
Assistant Director
Lead Peer Consultants
- Phoenix Vaughan-Ende
- Layla Youssef
- Sidra Yousaf
- Kori Cantwell (Social Media)
Peer Consultants
- Andi Kresl
- Bardia Ghazi
- Elfie Nelson
- Ellie Hudson
- Erika Cho
- Hadiya Amjad
- Henry Strayer
- Isaiah Taylor
- Jazmin Austria-Ball
- Liam Hunter
- Liyana Alam
- Morgan Fu-Mueller
- Natalie (Nat) Mannino
- Ryan Van Vuitton
- Shriya Bhaskara
- Sophia Treadwell
Assistant Director
Erik Echols
Affiliate Faculty, School Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences
President, Pacific Northwest Writing Center Association
It’s a privilege to create a collaborative and energizing space where students hone their writing, creative process, communication skills in a peer-to-peer setting. I enjoy extending our reach outside the walls of the Center and employing creative methods to expand upon the rich and diverse set of services we provide. Read more about Erik.
Lead Peer Consultants
Phoenix Vaughan-Ende
Current Program: MFA in Creative Writing & Poetics
Undergraduate: BA in Ethnic Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder
Minor in Creative Writing
Minor in Media Production
Writing was always difficult for me, especially in K-12. I never had the tools and resources to succeed at writing. I didn’t have a firm grasp on grammar, syntax, or structure, making it difficult to effectively communicate my ideas. It was always a slow and frustrating process, until an instructor in my last year of high school challenged me to say more. Through my instructors thereafter, I was empowered to share my stories and better convey them.
I was given so much by the mentors who helped me find my voice, and I want to take that fire—now, my fire—and share it with those who need it, like I needed it. Art and writing have become more than a means of communication, more than a means of acceptance and expression; through these mediums I’ve found hope, joy, and purpose.
In my personal practice, I strive to explore the boundaries of poetry, prose, and multi-media. My favorite part of the writing process is revision. All progress comes from revision! To me, there is nothing more satisfying than submitting a piece that you have been grinding over, where every word is purposeful and thought out.
In my free time, I love to read, watch cartoons, and play games. My favorite things to read are fiction—specifically sci-fi and queer romance—poetry, and graphic novels. I hope to be an emblem for queer and trans folx like myself by uplifting and supporting other’s writing practice, reading, and communication in meaningful ways.
Kori Cantwell (social media)
Major: Elementary Education
澳门赌场 library clock’s tick is ringing in my ears. My fingers type briskly. A bead of sweat rolls down my forehead. I take a deep breath, typing the final sentence to my conclusion. 澳门赌场 bell rings for class and I sprint to turn in my assignment in English. I had never procrastinated on an assignment, so my anxiety was decreasing from an all-time high. That morning, I had thrown my ideas onto the page, organized evidence haphazardly, and edited until it made sense. As a creative writer, I never outlined or planned, so writing an essay such as this was time-consuming and restrictive.
For anyone, writing can be a journey into your imagination or a task you’re dreading. For me, it has always been simultaneous. Writing is cathartic to me; an escape into another world or a way to express my emotions. Similarly, I’m passionate about teaching and being able to support students’ learning and development. To be a great teacher requires patience and kindness which will translate to my tutoring.
As a seasoned college writer, I am prepared to support you at any point in your writing process so that you feel confident. If you are feeling unmotivated or anxious, I am here to help you feel more comfortable and inspired. If you find that you’re moments from crying over an assignment, or need another opinion, or are wondering if you should rewrite the entire thing, come to the WaCC and I can keep the tears and worries away!
Layla Youssef
Major: Global Studies
Writing has always been a way to convey what I often struggle to say aloud.
Growing up shy and grappling with social anxiety, expressing my own thoughts and opinions to others was a constant struggle. I always had a lot to say, yet much of it would remain hidden the moment an opportunity arose to speak out. I would often stay behind, keep quiet, and internally cope with the frustration of wanting to say something without finding the assurance to speak it. Yet, writing was a solace. Whether that be through crafting stories, a film review, an argumentative essay, or a diary entry, putting words to page brought a level of comfort that allowed me to outwardly express my thoughts and opinions. As a peer consultant, I plan to help students feel comfortable and assured in their writing abilities. Writing is a powerful tool, and whether it’s something that you love, hate, or feel somewhere in between, I would be happy to help you find your assurance and present your ideas effectively. From argument to analysis, research to storytelling, my goal is to help you find your voice and present your writing in the best way possible.
Sidra Yousaf
Major: Biology and Community Psychology
Minor in Neuroscience
I grew up as an immigrant child in conservative, central Washington. I am the first-born daughter to Pakistani immigrant parents. I started wearing the hijab when I was fifteen because I yearned for an identity, or at least something that would help point me in that direction. As I grew more confident, I found myself wanting to be a positive representation of who Muslim women really are in America. I want to be that representation that I looked for growing up.
Unfortunately, I was greeted with a lot of ignorant comments and questions from my peers for a long time after I started wearing the hijab. A personal, and surprisingly repeated, favorite question of mine was if I “shower while wearing it” (for the record, I don’t).
Writing became my therapy when dealing with ignorance, whether it was typing out a rant and saving it in my Twitter drafts or angrily writing in my journal. Because of my experiences with prejudice growing up, I have grown to be an empathetic individual who knows how to talk about and deal with sensitive issues in a respectful way, whether in real life or in writing. I have done this by making a point to educate myself about the issues that other minorities have to face in America.
We all have our own stories and although I can’t tell your story for you, as your tutor, I would enjoy helping you tell your story in the way that best represents you.
Peer Consultants
Andi Kresl
Major: Culture, Literature, and the Arts
In my childhood, I was one of those kids that devoured books on a daily basis. I loved being consumed by stories, and it inspired me to write my own. However, at school I found academic writing to be tedious and aggravating. I struggled immensely with getting my assignments turned in on time. I was overwhelmed with all the work that the writing process involved. For a while, the stress of it all made me hate writing itself. However, through trial and error, I realized that writing is not a single skill – it’s an amalgamation of several skills. From evidence analysis to grammar comprehension, and so much more… Keeping track of all these different elements is a tremendous task.
I eventually learned how important it is to get another set of eyes on my work. When I’ve been focused on a piece for a long time, the words blur together, and I forget what I was even supposed to be writing about in the first place. It’s nerve-wracking to ask someone else to read what you’ve created, but getting feedback is exactly what helped me build my confidence. As time went on, I slowly learned to love writing again as a creative act.
I know what it’s like to be frustrated, and I know how beneficial outside aid can be. My job isn’t to tell you what to write, it’s to work with you to help you best embody your voice and communicate in whatever way is most effective for your purposes. I look forward to collaborating with you!
Bardia Ghazi
Major: Biology
Minor in Neuroscience
Non nobis solum nati sumus. Not alone for ourselves are we born. This quote from Cicero summarizes my passion in life perfectly. When my family immigrated to the US almost a decade ago from Iran, I was thrusted into a world I knew very little of. 澳门赌场 language, culture, customs, and everything else in between were practically foreign to me. With my parents both having to work fulltime, I was essentially left alone to navigate these uncharted waters. Not being able to write or otherwise communicate effectively saw my school grades plummet. 澳门赌场 lack of available resources was also discouraging. However, I decided to take matters into my own hands and began teaching myself English. As years went by, I saw significant improvement in all aspects of my comprehension of the language, most rapidly in my writing.
My speaking and listening skills followed soon thereafter and I started seeing positive results in all aspects of my life, school-related or otherwise. In the meantime, I discovered my passion for helping the people around me however I could. I’m currently on the premedical track, majoring in biology and minoring in neuroscience, with aspirations of one day becoming a neurologist. I plan on devoting my life to the service of others through medicine, but until then, I want to aid others to the best of my ability. That is why I’m a writing tutor because I know that, at the end of the day, not alone for ourselves are we born.
Elfie Nelson
Current Program: MFA in Creative Writing & Poetics
What do you love about UWB / writing / tutoring, or why are you excited to work here?
Tutoring allows me to connect one-on-one with a student and bring them to their “aha” moment within their writing. I find this super satisfying!
What are your other interests (outside of school and work)?
Board games, TTRPGs, video games, films, crafting, theater, baking
What would you like to do in the future?
Unsure. I was a teacher, and I may still do that when I graduate, but I honestly hope to change my trajectory.
Ellie Hudson
Major: Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences
What do you love about UWB / writing / tutoring, or why are you excited to work here?
I’m excited to work here because I love writing and I want to be able to help others write things that they can be proud of.
What are your other interests (outside of school and work)?
Tabletop roleplaying games, Video games, Digital art
What would you like to do in the future?
Work as part of a small game dev team, preferably on things like art assets or music.
Erika Cho
Major: Business Administration with a concentration in Finance
In school, I never considered myself to be much of a writer. But once I got to high school, I connected with it a lot more because of my English teacher, Mrs. Browning. From the very beginning, she ingrained in me the idea that I was a capable writer, I just had to allow myself to show that. She was a big believer in tough love, pushed me to fulfill my potential, and ultimately made me into the writer I am today. I learned from her just how much impact a good mentor can have, and I was inspired from then on to experiment with writing further.
I’m very task-oriented and detail-focused, so when writing a paper, I benefit greatly from having a good outline before I even start. Writing can be super overwhelming, and having a list of ideas and concepts to expand on helps a daunting task become much more manageable. Even outside of writing, it never hurts to have a plan.
Outside of the classroom, I love expressing myself creatively with makeup, nail art, and fashion! I also enjoy traditional art, like watercolor and sketching, as well as music – both playing it and listening to it. I find myself having extremely separated academic interests and personal interests, but I’ve grown to appreciate having a balance of scholarly and creative things in my life.
Hadiya Amjad
Major: Biology and Health Sciences
What do you love about UWB / writing / tutoring, or why are you excited to work here?
I love the creative diversity UWB has to offer.
What are your other interests (outside of school and work)?
My other interests outside of school include taking care of my plants and going on runs.
What would you like to do in the future?
Research cures for skin cancer and other skin diseases.
Isaiah Taylor
Major: Biology
As a kid, my three favorite things were dinosaurs, comic books, and professional wrestling; three seemingly random and disconnected things. 澳门赌场y do have something in common though: storytelling. Every piece of writing tells a story. Whether it’s fictional, a scripted wrestling match, a biography, or even a scientific paper; writing is about stories. Stories are what life is all about and how we communicate our ideas to each other. Even a collection of data is just a story told in a format with numbers. I am extremely interested in all of life’s stories and helping others understand them too, which led me to pursue a position at the WaCC.
I understand that writing isn’t everyone’s favorite activity or subject. 澳门赌场re are plenty of things I struggle with and don’t enjoy, but the ability to convey your ideas in writing is a critical skill you can use every day. Seeking help with writing and sharing it with others can also be a very intimidating process, but it can end up being very rewarding and relieve a lot of stress. I have personally had bad experiences with various tutors and peers so I know exactly how daunting the experience can be. Because of this, I do everything possible to make peers feel as relaxed as possible when working together and am more interested in understanding what you’re trying to achieve rather than telling you all the specifics of what I would do if I was writing a paper. This is a collaborative, unique storytelling process, not an interrogation.
I enjoy the research process of writing and find myself researching things in my own time not related to school. I find learning new topics fun and am more than happy to help others with the process, trying to make it as stress-free as possible. Topics concerning the natural world such as biology and ecology are my favorite but I am open to helping with whatever I can, whether it be a creative writing piece, a resume, or just an email to send to a friend. Writing is a skill with many different specializations, however, a solid foundation in it will help you bridge the gaps between them with relative ease. I look forward to helping you tell your story if you’re willing to let me.
Jazmin Austria-Ball
Major: Biology
Growing up, reading has never been something I looked forward to unless someone was reading to me. I already had a very rampant and vivid imagination so I thought that I didn’t need to read the books I was told to read. Throughout the years I realized that I was wrong. I picked up more mythology based stories and was instantly hooked! From Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series to Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles I couldn’t get enough. 澳门赌场re was something so intriguing about stories that didn’t have a happy ending. It made the characters in the story feel so real to me. 澳门赌场 bad guys winning or the hero losing the one they love kept me hooked as a reader because that made me ask, what happens next? Questions like these have inspired me to become a storyteller of sorts in the writing that I do. As a tutor I hope to help you in finding the answers to your questions.
For me, writing is a creative outlet even if it’s an academic paper. I find joy in the challenge of academic writing, which ultimately has kept my spirits up in my dream of getting into the biology major here at UW Bothell. 澳门赌场re are some things that I dread about writing and I understand how difficult the process can be for putting your thoughts onto paper. That is what I am here to do! I hope to use the skills I have accrued over time to help and guide you with your writing!
Liam Hunter
Major: Law, Economics, & Public Policy
In a world where speeches are only as impactful as the person giving it, I feel that writing holds the power of being truly anonymous. Especially in our era of technology where online communication surpasses the physical requirements of conversations. I see writing as the most unprejudiced format of communication. Whether it be online or on a piece of paper, you start every sentence from a blank slate.
You know nothing about me, but you automatically connect the words, written in my biography, with the image at the side of your screen. But what if there wasn’t an image? Does the image contribute to how you determine the credibility in my writing?
As you can see, I’m quite fond of philosophical questions and constantly tackling the world with an analytical perspective. My writing style follows the same ideologies. I ask questions to further understand how the reader or audience will react to my paper. In college it becomes increasingly important to accommodate the reader’s perspective. I challenge those of you reading this to spare a minute to think introspectively upon your own writing style. How exactly does your paper communicate with its audience? As a writing tutor I hope to interact with countless unique writing styles, all while developing my own analytical perspective on writing.
Morgan Fu-Mueller
Major: Community Psychology
What do you love about UWB / writing / tutoring, or why are you excited to work here?
Writing has always come fairly naturally to me, but I will never feel like I’m “done” learning it. Especially recently, I always feel like I’m acquiring new skills and ways of expression, and expanding into different formats I’d never have thought I could do. I’m passionate about expressing ideas in my own voice, and helping others write in their own voice as well. I hope working at the WaCC will be a good opportunity for learning both for myself and others.
What are your other interests (outside of school and work)?
I’ve been playing D&D for around 6 years, and illustrating for almost that long. Lately, I’ve been getting really into K-pop and poetry.
What would you like to do in the future? I’m planning on majoring in Psychology and going to law school after that. I had a great experience in mock trial a few years ago and hope to expand my love for rhetoric and expression into the legal world, though I’m still waiting to find a specialty that really grabs my attention.
Natalie (Nat) Mannino
Current Program: MFA in Creative Writing & Poetics
What do you love about UWB / writing / tutoring, or why are you excited to work here?
澳门赌场 process of brainstorming, forming ideas, linking those ideas with evidence and examples, proving your point, and doing so with interesting language is something that never gets old for me. It’s exciting and unique every time, and I get a lot of gratification and satisfaction when I finish and can read back my work and be proud of it. I can’t wait to help others do this too, and to hear so many different points of view!
What are your other interests (outside of school and work)?
Hiking, scrapbooking, watching movies, and reading.
What would you like to do in the future?
Enter the publishing industry and become an editor.
Ryan Van Vuitton
Major: Community Psychology
What do you love about UWB / writing / tutoring, or why are you excited to work here?
I have a strong passion for writing, so it only made sense for me to work somewhere that values that! To add to that, I have always had an interested in tutoring as I think I have a somewhat solid sense of judgement.
What are your other interests (outside of school and work)?
Of course, stating the obvious here, I love to read! Apart from that, I have become truly fond of music production over the years, gradually making me spend more time on the projects I start. In addition to those two, I like to explore the places closes to me via buses and long walks.
What would you like to do in the future?
I, really, do not have a clue, if I am being completely honest. However, since I have an interest in psychology, I would like whatever I do to be in suit to that!
Shriya Bhaskara
Major: Computer Science & Software Engineering
Minor: Music
To me, writing is a way of expressing my thoughts and feelings on a certain subject. Everyone has their own opinions when it comes to different topics. This is why writing is one of my favorite topics. Sometimes there are times when I encounter writer’s block, while other times I can’t stop writing. My favorite stage in the writing process is the brainstorming part and brain dumping what I need to write in my paper. I mainly enjoy personal narratives and other forms of creative writing. I want to share my experiences through my papers and write about topics I am passionate about. That’s why when I was writing my college essays I found that I had a lot to write about because it is about my own experiences, so it ended up being hard to cut things out. However, I kept the parts that I felt made me unique and that answered the prompts in order to meet the length requirements.
Although in some classes I might not have as much artistic freedom, I still have a chance to analyze evidence pieces and share my thoughts about certain points. As a dance teacher I have worked with dancers at different ages and levels so I hope to use that as a skill as a writing consultant. I hope to help students with expressing their thoughts through their papers and addressing any questions they have. I believe being a writing consultant will not only allow students to strengthen their writing and communications skills, but it will also give me a chance to learn how others write their papers and improve my skills relating to being a tutor.
In my free time I like to work on my music compositions, play piano, read books, bake, and hang out with my family and friends.
Sophia Treadwell
Major: Media and Communication Studies
What do you love about UWB / writing / tutoring, or why are you excited to work here?
I am excited to work here because UWB fosters a diverse, creative, and friendly community.
What are your other interests (outside of school and work)?
I love traveling, music, art, fashion, and environmentalism.
What would you like to do in the future?
In the future I would love to have a career in journalism or teaching, as well as explore various countries.