Tutor profile: Valerie S.

Does the sight of a blank document on a screen send panic through your veins? It's been said that writer's block is plain fear. How do you overcome this fear and create an essay that clearly expresses your ideas?

As trite as it sounds, you learn to write by writing. And writing, and revising, and writing again. I can help you draw those words out from your brain, organize them, and get them onto paper.

The Internet has changed how we gather information. If an answer shows up within the first five results on Google, it has to be accurate and reliable, right? Wikipedia is an amazing result of collaborative information sharing that surely is authoritative, isn't it? Who needs libraries and library skills?

Everyone needs libraries and the skills needed to use them effectively. Fake news was a trendy term a few months ago, but it is not new. Misinformation, biased reporting, and propaganda are reasons a civilized people need to develop critical thinking skills and the ability to sort through and evaluate information. Librarians know the secret to doing this, and they are more than willing to share the secret. All you have to do is ask.

Why is English important, especially in modern times, when anyone with an electronic device can express him or herself with little thought and effort?

English is important because we still live in a world that judges how well we can express thoughts and ideas--taking abstract flashes of electricity and chemicals and forming them into symbols that accurately convey and communicate.