IEW® writing method works in a variety of environments. Many students encounter it in their homeschools. Others, though, learn to write using IEW materials in different settings. Carly Torres first experienced IEW at her school, Mingo Valley Christian. Enjoy reading this post as she shares some of her thoughts about IEW, her educational experiences, and her future plans.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I was born as the only child to a loving mother and father in Norman, Oklahoma. When I was three, we moved to Tulsa. Ever since then, I’ve had the pleasure of calling Tulsa my home. Not only that, but I had the joy of being taught in private schools since kindergarten. My first school was Evangelistic Temple School until the seventh grade, when I attended Mingo Valley Christian. I graduated from there in May of 2017 and am now officially an alumnus!
What do you do now?
I am currently attending the University of Oklahoma, striving to earn my BSN in Nursing Studies. After that, I plan to either pursue a career as a nurse practitioner or a pediatric doctor, whichever way the Lord calls me. When I’m not at school, I live in Tulsa with my parents. This past summer I worked at the Institute for Excellence in Writing, helping in the Customer Service and Schools departments.
What grades were you in when you used IEW?
I used IEW materials from seventh to ninth grade. In my English class my teacher, Mrs. Pewthers, introduced me to Fix It! Grammar and taught us how to use fused outlines, dress-ups, and sentence openers. These things were integrated into a well-rounded curriculum, where we studied novels such as The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Giver. Writing paragraphs and essays over the books we studied, I soon learned how to properly structure long research and topical papers from source material while grasping grammar rules such as comma placement.
What was your favorite part of IEW? Or, how did it benefit you?
Definitely my favorite part of the curriculum was working through Fix It! every day. We went through stories in a way I had never done before, and while sometimes they were challenging, I loved being able to identify a faulty punctuation mark or a run-on sentence. The end of the year brought the end of another story, and I felt so accomplished knowing that I had completed thirty-three weeks of grammar practice.
In what ways has IEW helped you prepare for college?
One of the things that I will never take for granted is the way that IEW has helped me construct a complete essay, no matter the length or how many sources are used. The guidelines I have learned will always be available for me to apply if I ever get stuck on something like that. Therefore, I think that college will be a place for me to truly shine in terms of how I write and the quality of writing that I have been able to develop through years of IEW training.
Do you see any connection from your IEW training to your ability to communicate beyond writing?
The best part of creating outlines is that you can make one no matter the scenario, whether it be writing or communicating through presentations or speeches. Not only that, but embellishments can be added in order to make your facts powerful as you present them in front of a panel or a crowd of classmates. The ability to collect my thoughts and present them in an order that makes sense and in a way that is coherent is a skill that I will always cherish. Not only that, but learning how to place stronger words like verbs and adjectives in your writing impacts your day-to-day speech as well, making it easier to find more precise ways to get a thought across. IEW curriculum introduced these ideas to me in a way that I could understand and build upon as I have gotten older and moved through high school.
Do you have any plans for the future where writing and communicating will be needed? How?
Well, going to college requires more than enough writing and communicating in order to get through it, that’s for sure. However, with my training in IEW, I feel very prepared for it. I’m confident I have the skills in place to do well. Beyond college, however, my focus is going to be the medical field. All communication to parents and children about their wellbeing needs to be clear and precise. While writing will perhaps not be as big of an issue, communicating and being willing to talk with parents and children about their afflictions in a way that is compassionate and to the point will be vital in making sure that the hospital or practice I am working for is represented well.
What one piece of advice would you give your younger self?
Little things impact people as much as big things. You just don’t always see it. Be willing to send that text or start that conversation because you never know how that little thing could brighten someone’s day.
Also, discover black coffee. It doesn’t taste as scary as it sounds.
Carly has learned how to write with a flourish because of her experiences of IEW. She’s also grasped how to use IEW structure to write essays of any length and apply her strong foundation in grammar to create well-written compositions. All of these skills will serve her well as she moves through her college coursework and transitions to serving others in the medical field. Thank you, Carly, for sharing a bit of your life with us. We wish you all the best as you continue learning at the University of Oklahoma!
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