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I'm Jenn
Jacobs.
kind of like Anne with an e, but Jenn with two n's
I'm a private tutor in Toronto, visual thinker & academic resource creator with one too many notebooks filled with doodles and my next big ideas.
Probably like you, I'm not all the same, all the time. So, it's probably best to introduce you to a few different Jenn's and you can let me know which one you have something in common with.
...weekday A.M. Jenn
If you catch me in the mornings, I'm trying to get my 3 kids out the door and off to school, and you can bet we're running late. I'm sporting a hoodie and I'm probably about to call my BF to see if he also had to sign his kids in at the office.
...kids at school,midday Jenn
Stop in for a visit while my kids are at school, and you can be sure I'm either working on my next teaching resource or tutoring. If I'm in creator mode, I'll greet you at the door with a mechanical pencil in one hand, an oversized mug of lukewarm black coffee in the other, and a podcast (or 90s R&B) playing in the background. If you show up and I'm tutoring, I'll be sitting cross-legged on a comfy couch or armless chair intently focused and unheeding of the door. Quite likely my cats will greet you at the front window in my place and quizzically stare at you until you feel a little weird and walk away.
"Experience
is simply the name we give to our
mistakes ."
Oscar Wilde
...the writing obsessed Jenn
"I've learned that people will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them
feel."
Maya Angelou
Reading stories, writing stories, telling stories - I've always wanted to be immersed in story. I still have boxed up in my closet short stories and poems from my elementary & high school days. And, of course, I have all my essays from university tucked away in a box beside them. Oh, and there's also the box on the same shelf filled with journals and diaries that date back to Grade 5, along with a stack of secret notes my friends and I wrote to each other during math, science and geography class in high school with little "YANK" tabs. And then on my nightstand, I have a collection of notebooks as well...but, maybe we'll just leave it at the boxes.
...the tutor Jenn
Sometimes you choose your job, and sometimes your job chooses you. I applied for a part-time tutoring position at the age of 19. Fast-forward twenty years, and I'm still doing the same thing, only now I don't have to fill out a timesheet or wait 'til the end of the month for my pay check. I've always done what makes me happy, and so I've always tutored writing.
...the critical & creative thinker Jenn
One day I ended up in a first year university English class - ENG A11. I met a professor and instantly knew that this man was going to change how I thought, how I read, and how I wrote. I showed up to every one of his classes (and I can't say that about too many other profs), laughed at his digressions, and found myself completely gripped by his insight and creative ways of thinking. I took 8 of his courses throughout my five years of undergrad and I studied him with intention because he was doing what I wanted to do - teaching students HOW to think. So, here I am - doing everything I can to spark that flame to want to think better, write better, speak better in the hearts and minds of as many students my voice will reach.
ABOUT
I'm Jenn. An academic writing expert, creator of anti-jargon writing tutorials and lessons, bookworm with a master's degree, private tutor who sticks around for the long haul, obsessive DIYer & thrifter, long-time visual artist, cat lover, and proud mama of two free-spirited boys and one mini-me.
There are two kinds of academic writing: the dry oatmeal kind that's bland and hard to read, and the kind that isn't. I help you write the kind that isn't.
I'm here to help you write essays, proposals, personal responses, literary reflections, school applications and cover letters. And, I make sure your ideas take centre stage and say just as much about you as the camera roll on your phone. I'm also here to tell you to stay away from YouTube videos that promise quick fixes and A's, tutors & tutoring business that promise specific grades, plug-in awriting formulas, and the 5 Paragraph Essay (aka critical thinking's nemesis.)
Still here?
Ahhhh, nice. You're serious about stepping up your writing game. Alright, I'm in. Let's do it!
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