This fall, Anna Pedersen ’15 will take the skills she learned while working in Haverford’s Writing Center to the New York University campus in Abu Dhabi, where she will be a Global Academic Fellow in writing. Her responsibilities during the 10-month fellowship will include co-teaching a first-year writing seminar, meeting one-on-one with students in the Writing Center, and conducting personal-enrichment exercises focused on her own writing.
Pedersen worked as a peer tutor in Haverford’s Writing Center for three years, and it was one of her favorite parts of her college experience. “I liked working with other people on their projects and exploring departments and fields I wouldn’t have on my own, and getting hands-on teaching experience,” she says. (Haverford’s Writing Center is a free service available to all students to get peer-mentor help with any type of writing assignment, from two-page papers to entire theses.)
Pedersen credits Director of the Writing Center Kristin Lindgren with connecting her with the Global Academic Fellowship opportunity, but Lindgren wasn’t the only person who helped set her on the path to Abu Dhabi. “The head of the comparative literature department at Bryn Mawr, [Fairbank Professor in the Humanities] Azade Seyhan, was always for going to the places you’re studying and seeing them first-hand,” says Pedersen.
“I’m appreciative of all that Haverford gave me over the four years,” she says. “One of the most amazing ways to give back is to go out to different communities across the world and put into action all I’ve learned over the last four years and to experience those things we’ve been learning about.”
—Jack Hasler ’15
“Where They’re Headed” is a blog series reporting on the post-collegiate plans of recent Haverford graduates.