Cassy Pressimone Beckowski has been working in the writing center as a writing specialist and coordinator for five and a half years. Due to her maternity leave, she decided it was time to continue on in her future. She has been on maternity leave but her last day was Jan. 23
Beckowski will still be teaching part time, which allows her to have more flexibility in her schedule. Beckowski said, “I will still be teaching part-time here this semester, but I will probably be going to achieve my doctorate sometime in the near future.” She is a dramaturg by training and she wants to spend more time doing dramaturgical work this spring.
Her interest in teaching came from her love of writing, as well as the writing assistant program she was a part of when she was in graduate school at Stony Brook University. She also loves working and tutoring in writing. She also loved being a dramaturg, which is a part of the art of theatre in regards to the techniques involved in writing plays.
“I am proud of work that I have done and how the Center for Teaching and Learning has grown and developed during my time here,” Beckowski said. “The peer tutoring program is really big and I am happy with how it has grown and evolved and because of my two young kids, I have decided to leave the Writing Center.”
As she looks back she compares her work and sees how she has improved over time. In her eyes, “writing takes a lot of time and commitment.”
She believes she has inspired students by encouraging them to be enthusiastic for writing. She also encouraged them to not hate the writing assignments and to just try to complete them. Beckowski believes that writing is a process that evolves over a lifetime. Beckowski herself has always enjoyed writing and has a passion for it.
“I am happy to continue teaching here and I believe in the mission of the heart and I am so impressed by the Cabrini students here who care about each other and the world, and I hope to continue that in my teaching,” Beckowski said.
Mary Kate Moran, special education major, said, “Her door was always open and she was always there to go to for help.”
Matt Slutz, the assistant writing specialist who works with Beckowski said, “The writing center has gown tremendously over the years.” His plan is to create more resources for students and tutors in terms of digital information, which is something Cassy started a while back.
Slutz filled in for Beckowski on her first leave so he knows it will be challenging taking her position, but he thinks with the staff support, things will continue to run smoothly. “It will be different this semester now that she left, and I will definitely miss Cassy,” Slutz said. “I learned from Cassy to go through the day with positivity.”
