Meet the new staff: John Schell
Ashley Silvey, Staff Writer
If anyone understands the influence a professor can have, it is John Schell. After being advised by James Washick to take Catherine Sepko’s Literary Theory course a few years ago, Schell first began to realize his passion for the study of English.
Schell graduated from North Greenville with a bachelor’s degree in English. During his time as an NGU student, Schell took several English courses which only served to increase his love for English literature.
Following his time at North Greenville, Schell went on to Appalachian State where he earned a master’s degree in English as well as a graduate certificate in composition. It was at graduate school that Schell met his wife who shared his heart for English and was pursuing her master’s in English too.
Schell said, “Coming to teach at NGU was a homecoming because it was a place I already loved.”
Reflecting on his time as a student at North Greenville, Schell said, “Instructors at NGU don’t just care for your academic life or even your person life. They care about your spiritual growth.”
School stated, “It’s very difficult to find teachers who care to the degree that they do at NGU.”
NGU was the place for Schell because of the encouragement from the faculty, but ultimately because he is grateful that he can integrate his Christian values with teaching.
This semester Schell is teaching the Composition and Rhetoric course where he primarily works with freshmen students. Schell plans to be an instructor for the Composition and Literature course during the spring semester and has some goals for both his present and future students.
“Don’t be afraid of college writing. Be confident in writing,” Schell stated.
Schell said he understands that learning to write may take time and in his classroom, Schell would advise his students to allow themselves to develop as writers.
In his first year of teaching and the years following, Schell aspires for his students to take away this piece of knowledge from his classes: “There is no such thing as bad writing or bad writers,” Schell concluded, “only underdeveloped . . . writers who have not yet found their way.”
