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Family, Home and Social Sciences
FHSS Writing

About the FHSS Writing Lab

About the FHSS Writing Lab
Our Advisors
Preparing for a visit

The FHSS Writing Lab is a free writing service that assists students within the BYU College of Family, Home and Social Sciences. Our advisors are friendly undergraduate students from a variety of social science disciplines who have extensive writing experience and are trained in teaching writing. We offer individual, face-to-face sessions where we serve to help students become better writers by focusing on the global aspects of writing, such as thesis construction, organization, transitions, idea development, logical coherence, style, and argument clarity. Students can walk in or schedule an appointment via email or telephone, or by reserving a time online. We welcome writers and their papers at any stage in the writing process.​

The advisors in the FHSS Writing Lab are undergraduate students from a wide variety of disciplines within the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences. They have been chosen as staff members based on their writing experience and tutoring skills. Each advisor has an individual approach, but all have the same goal: to help students better understand an​d enjoy the writing process.

Our Writing Advisors

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Ryan Bell

(Lehi, Utah) Ryan is a political science major and a Chinese minor. He plans to go to law school and hopefully end up arguing in a court room one day. When he's not reading about theories of warfare or trying to remember Chinese characters, Ryan can be found binge watching a TV show (his current favorites are "Lincoln Lawyer" "Madam Secretary" and "Only Murders in the Building") or playing board games. He loves spending time with his family and his friends. While Utah is a nice place, Ryan dreams to one day end up living in Washington DC. He also loves to travel and hopes to one day visit every continent with his wife. He loves warm weather, and the beach is his happy place. Ryan served his mission in Arcadia, California Chinese speaking. Writing has always been a hobby for Ryan, so he is excited to help students in the lab this semester!
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Zac Dart

(Spanish Fork, Utah) Zac is a history major and plans to go to law school. He's not sure what type of law he wants to practice but knows that one day he'd like to return to school and be a professor. His favorite areas of history include Ancient Rome, modern Japan, the modern US, and sports history. Outside of school, he loves to read, play the guitar, and golf. Zac is also passionate about music and his current favorites are Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Vampire Weekend, Radiohead, Dean Blunt, and Nujabes. As you might have gathered, his absolute favorite hobby is aimlessly listing things he's interested in. He hopes to end up in either Utah or Arizona, though he also has roots in North Carolina. Most of all, he loves writing and working with other people, so he can't wait to work in the lab this semester.
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Kyleigh McMullen

(Hollister, California) Kyleigh is a junior majoring in psychology, minoring in family life, and participating in the honors program. After graduating, Kyleigh hopes to continue onto graduate school and one day become a professor. Before then, she is hoping to have the chance to study abroad and is excited to write her honors thesis! In her free time, she likes to read, do miscellaneous crafts (right now she’s into crocheting), watch TV shows, and spend time with her family. Kyleigh has worked in the writing lab for several semesters and thoroughly enjoys the work that she does.
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Kaitlynn Rasmussen

(Thatcher, Arizona) Kaitlynn is a psychology major with a minor in family life. She plans to go to graduate school to become a Marriage and Family Therapist. Coming from a small desert town, she is a sunshine girl at heart and has yet to wear a pair of skis and hit the slopes. Kaitlynn loves being outside and fights the urge to not let her time as a white-water rafting guide become her whole personality. She enjoys burnt campfire marshmallows, guitar jam sessions and a competitive game of volleyball. She served her mission in Columbus, Ohio where she first learned what a buckeye was. Writing has been a growing passion of hers since studying at BYU and she is stoked to help students become passionate about it as well!
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Serena Rivera

(Queens, New York) Serena is a senior majoring in psychology. After she graduates, she plans to attend graduate school and focus on mental health/grief counseling! She served her mission in British Columbia, Canada. She loves to travel (next dream destination is Japan), hike, and go on long walks. She is stoked to be working as an advisor this semester!
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Samuel Watson

(South Jordan, Utah) Sam is in his Junior year as a Social Science Teaching major and a Spanish Teaching minor. He hopes to teach US History, US Government, and Spanish as a High School Teacher. He served in the Paraguay, Asuncion mission and while there found a love for Spanish, the people, and food. You'll often find him watching a YouTube video or reading a book about historical events. If you don't find him doing that, he's most likely talking to you about notable Hip-Hop artists or why this certain video game is better than the one you like. You might even find him outdoors spending time with his loved ones or religiously watching football. Due to his major he loves the classroom, and he is especially excited to help students become better writers.
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Delaney Shaw

(Bentonville, Arkansas) Delaney is a psychology major and a global women’s studies minor. Delaney hopes to become a child psychologist and help kids receive much needed support. She served her mission in Fresno California where she developed a passionate love for Mexican food. She has the world's biggest sweet tooth and can often be found picking up a sweet treat or a caffeinated beverage. Delaney is a lover of animals and children and loves when she gets an opportunity to volunteer at animal shelters or schools. She spent the last summer working at a Spanish immersion program singing songs, reading stories, and hanging out with her five year old besties. She loves reading and writing and cannot wait to help students achieve their writing goals!
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Bethany Leddy

(Red Bluff, California) Bethany is double majoring in Sociology and Spanish Studies and is participating in the Honors Program. After graduating, she hopes to do research on Latin American populations and help them start programs to combat poverty. She loves to sing, song write, play the flute, and explore nature. Her favorite music is rock & roll, especially 3 Days Grace and Twenty One Pilots. She spent the last summer in Ecuador, studying the indigenous populations in the Amazon Rainforest. Bethany loves reading and writing, and she's super pumped to work in the lab and to help her fellow students!
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Kevin Tingey

(Redondo Beach, California) Kevin is a junior majoring in psychology with plans to pursue a PhD in counseling or clinical psychology. His academic interests focus on anxiety, depression, and illness-related PTSD. When he's not studying or sleeping, Kevin loves being in nature, especially near the ocean. As a certified scuba diver and an amateur free diver, he finds a spiritual connection in exploring the ocean’s alien-like world. He served a mission in Fort Collins, Colorado, and is passionate about topics such as personal productivity and mental well-being. Above all, Kevin enjoys writing, reading, and helping fellow students succeed in their classes.
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Preparing for a Visit to the FHSS Writing Lab

To make the most of your visit to the FHSS Writing Lab, please come prepared with the following:

  • A copy of your draft, either as a hard copy or on a laptop. We will not work with a phone or a tablet.
  • You are welcome to bring in your writing at any stage in the writing process (e.g. thesis, outline, introduction, incomplete draft).
  • An idea of how we can help you with your paper. This can include appropriateness, focus, organization, development, introduction, conclusion, word choice, tone, or documentation style. Please note that we are neither grammar experts nor an editing service. By focusing on global issues, you can apply principles of writing on other papers and can become a better writer.
  • We are happy to assist all students with global writing issues and assignment-specific requirements. Our advisors cannot provide ESL-specific grammar help or proofreading.