Mari Reitsma Chevako
English Language Institute Instructor
One way or the other, I have been involved with internationals and with writing my entire life. Many years ago, a helpful high school counselor, trying to put those two interests together, suggested I might find satisfaction working for National Geographic. Rather, I have spent a good bit of time studying the art of writing, teaching, and engaging with people from all over the world.
In quick succession, I earned my B.A. in English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, my M.A. in writing with a concentration in poetry from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and my M.F.A. in writing with a poetry concentration from Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina. Immediately after school, my husband and I went to Tokyo, Japan, for three years where I taught in a woman’s college. Upon returning to Milwaukee, I raised four children while working ardently alongside friends here in Milwaukee and abroad to bring physical and spiritual hope to those living embattled lives overseas.
For some years now, I have been teaching English composition and literature courses at universities in the Milwaukee area and have also done a good bit of my own writing. I am happy also to be back teaching English to second-language learners. Although instilling grammar and compositional rules is always what we English teachers must do, I desire also to impart a love for learning, a joy in the process and an appreciation for the way that this language can express the best of ourselves.