Higher education professional for 15 years. Former university English instructor. Experienced graduate and professional school admissions director. Louisiana native. DFW-based.
Welcome to Igniting Changes! My name is Whitney, and I have spent most of my professional life in higher education. While I continue to work full-time in graduate school admissions, I am thrilled to start offering professional editing and proofreading services as a part-time venture.
As is the case for many of you, I have experienced significant changes in my life since early 2020. I have chosen to see the good in those changes and seek to make more positive changes in my life. The desire to be proactive with these changes has led me to the creation of this website. While igniting changes in my own life, I want to use my skills and experience to help others improve their businesses, academic writing, and career paths.
I credit my mother with igniting my interests in writing and proofreading as a child. Her influence paired with outstanding high school English teachers led me to actually enjoy writing papers as a history major in college; this influence is also part of the reason I pursued a Master of Arts in linguistics.
I have been a go-to source for free proofreading amongst family, friends, and coworkers for years. My professional experience in this field includes teaching ESL grammar and composition to undergraduate and graduate students at Louisiana State University, editing dissertation chapters and article submissions for former students, and proofreading cover letters and medical residency personal statements.
In addition, during my time as a PhD student at the University of Tennessee, I taught the lab portion of the Communication Research Methods course for undergraduate Communication Studies majors. Teaching the lab component involved reviewing quantitative and qualitative research methods with students as well as grading research papers. I also taught lecture courses in Business and Professional Communication, Survey of Interpersonal Communication, and Survey of Organizational Communication.
I eventually decided that a PhD in Communication Studies was not the path for me, and I found myself returning to university admissions. I spent four years working in medical school admissions, including three years as Director of Admissions. In 2020 I made the move to Texas, where I am happily employed as Director of Graduate Admissions, overseeing admissions for multiple graduate and professional programs.
Thank you for visiting and taking the time to learn more about my new venture. If you have any questions about my services or qualifications, please feel free to reach out.
To avoid any conflicts of interest, I will not be able to provide feedback on personal statements or applications for applicants to Texas Wesleyan University. Thank you for your understanding.
Igniting Changes 