AWA Student Spotlight: Valamere Mikler

Monday, December 11, 2017 Scholarly Writing , Student Spotlight , Walden University No comments

The Writing Center’s Administrative Writing Assistants (AWAs) are at the front line of the writingsupport@waldenu.edu inbox, performing necessary tasks to make the Writing Center run smoothly. Writing Center AWAs are an integral part of the Writing Center as they communicate regularly with students. But, the AWAs are also Walden students, and thus integral to Walden University itself. That’s why we’d like to share some of their stories of academic success, professional accomplishment, social change work, and advice for other Walden students. In this spotlight series, we show our appreciation for all their hard work so that others can be inspired by their stories as well.

Today's spotlight is on Valamere Mikler, a student in

the College of Social and Behavior Sciences

Residing in Florida, Valamere is a PhD student in the Organizational Diversity and Social Change specialization of the Masters in Industrial and Organizational Psychology program who began her dissertation during the fall quarter in 2017. Valamere advocates for social change in her community by serving on the Opa-Locka Community Development Corporation’s Community Advisory Board and Citizen’s Advocacy Group where she strives to ensure people in urban areas, such as youth in Miami-Dade County, Florida, have access to quality job placement, education, and training opportunities. She chose Walden because of Walden’s social change mission. Specifically, she believes that her degree will support her as a candidate to continue addressing challenges in her profession, where she lives, and in the world around her.

We asked Valamere to share Writing Center resources she values, writing- and student-related struggles she faces, and her career plans after Walden.

Valamere Mikle

Walden University Writing Center (WUWC): What are the most common questions you find in the writing support inbox and what feedback do you provide?

Valamere Mikler (VM): The most common questions I find in the writingsupport@waldenu.edu inbox are APA citations, reference list entries, and questions about paper review services. For APA citations, I like to provide students with a link to the In-Text & Parenthetical Citations page, and for reference list formatting questions, I like to provide the link for the page on Common Reference List Examples. If a student is interested in paper review services, I provide the myPass website and encourage the student to make an appointment as well as view the videos and tutorials to walk them through the process.

WUWC: How have you struggled as a writer and how have you overcome that struggle?

VM: I have always had a passion for writing; however, I struggle with grammatical errors and sentence structure. It is a paradox that English is my favorite subject, but I have trouble with the mechanics of writing; however, that did not discourage me from trying to seek ways to improve my writing skills. Over time, my writing skills developed because I used the feedback and support received from paper reviews and continued to practice writing skills.

WUWC: As a Walden student yourself, what academic advice would you give other Walden students?

VM: Take full advantage of all the writing resources, such as paper reviews and webinars, to help you achieve your writing goals.

WUWC: What challenge have you faced as a student and how did you face that challenge?

VM: During my master’s program, it was difficult to excel when my mother became ill and I had to take care of her while also working full-time. Overwhelmed with personal responsibilities, my grades suffered. However, I did not allow this to deter my desire to obtain my masters degree and move on to a PhD program. To overcome challenges, I manage time by goal setting and planning my schedule, and allowing time for writing, researching, and personal responsibilities. I also take advantage of Walden University’s support services and resources, such as the library and the Center for Research Quality. I don’t quit, regardless of personal crisis, problem, or frustration may occur.

WUWC: What work do you plan to do after you graduate from Walden?

VM: I plan to provide consulting services for organizations regarding best practices for measuring human behavior to improve employees' work satisfaction and employers’ ability to select and promote the best people within firms, leadership centers, corporations, universities, and companies. I also plan to facilitate workshops on corporate social responsibility, diversity initiatives, and how to make the workplace better employees.

Thanks, Valamere! We at the Writing Center appreciate your dedication to and support of students—you are a true asset to us as part of our support team, and we know that students appreciate your work as well.

The Walden Writing Center provides information and assistance to students with services like live chat, webinars, course visits, paper reviews, podcasts, modules, and the writing center webpages. Through these services they provide students assistance with APA, scholarly writing, and help students gain skills and confidence to enhance their scholarly work. Students can email WritingSupport@waldenu.edu and expect a reply from one of our expert AWAs.