Brett Armes
Instructor - Developmental Literacy
“We are our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.” – Tom Robbins
I'm an Instructor for College Readiness: TSI Literacy. I help students develop their reading and writing skills. I enjoy teaching English because I get to have awesome discussions with my students. I love to see how each student uniquely analyzes and interprets the world around them.
It took me about nine years to complete my B.A. in English at Indiana University in Indianapolis. I worked a lot as a student. I bagged groceries, worked as a cashier, drove a trash truck, labored behind a drilling rig, and did a lot of landscaping. I loved it all. After graduation, I spent some of my best years teaching English in South Korea. I also earned an M.A. in English from the University of West Georgia and a Ph.D. in Creative Writing from the University of North Texas. I have several years of experience working as a writing center tutor and as a composition instructor.
I enjoy reading and writing fiction, and I'm obsessed with listening to music. I'm also a Linux hobbyist, which means I'll sit at my computer for hours tinkering with the operating system. When I have time, I like taking road trips and disappearing into the woods for a while. I also enjoy art museums, the symphony, going bowling, playing pool, and watching corny B movies.
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Ask me about:
The only sport I've ever been good at.
Rollerblading. I was a street skater, or “SK8R,” in my youth.
My favorite dystopian novel
Ice by Anna Kavan. It's a beautifully written, surreal story about the world being slowly destroyed by ice. I've never read another book like it.
The first CD I ever bought
Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins. It's still one of my favorite albums of all time.
How I became an English major
My major was “Undecided” for a long time. I became an English major after a composition class. I had an amazing professor who cared a lot about her students. She really encouraged me to grow as a writer.
Texas Success Initiative
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Address
Texas Tech University, Drane Hall, Room 214, Mail Stop 45020, Lubbock, TX 79409 -
Phone
806.742.3242 -
Email
tsi@ttu.edu