By Dale M. Kuska

Graduate Writing Center (GWC) Coach Michelle Pagnani accrues a lot of fans through the course of a quarter here at NPS – she's pictured, center, with several of them. Pagnani has been a coach at the GWC since September 2013, essentially since it opened for business, and has personally helped hundreds of students improve a critical skill for success in academia.

"My colleagues and I act as mentors, helping individuals translate their subject matter expertise onto the page," said Pagnani. "Through both one-to-one coaching and interactive workshops, we encourage students to gain new knowledge, to practice new skills, and to gradually hone their voices in a supportive atmosphere. Our role is to make the writing process less painful and maybe even a little fun.

"Writing is increasingly important in the workplace, as is having the cognitive ability to analyze a text and to extract its key ideas," continued Pagnani. "We encourage people to become not only skilled writers but also, independent problem solvers."

And the center's help is working. GWC appointments and drop-in attendance numbers have risen nearly every quarter since its establishment. One such student who applauds the center's efforts is Lt. Christopher Cedros, a Surface Warfare Officer in NPS' homeland security and defense curriculum who turned the GWC's help into his selection as winner of the Hans Jones Award for Excellence in Thesis Research in Special Operations and Irregular Warfare.

"When officers arrive at the Naval Postgraduate School, the majority of us haven't been in a collegiate environment for years," said Cedros. "The Graduate Writing Center provides mentorship through the span of everyone's time at NPS in order to enhance the skills to become a better writer."

While both Pagnani and Cedros were excited about the award, the student says he is equally appreciative of the new skills he'll depart NPS with.

"The GWC helps you develop the ability to be a successful academic writer," he said. "The ability to be an effective writer is vital for the military and I believe the practices I have developed at NPS and the GWC will be necessary for my future endeavors."