Assistant Professor in Writing Dr. Allison Hitt is a native West Virginian that cannot only recite numerous Salt-N-Pepa songs from memory, but she can also brag about her Ph.D. she earned at age 27.
Hitt graduated from Hollins University with a B.A. in English and Spanish before going on to West Virginia University to enter the Professional Writing and Editing program. She completed he education in 2015 with a Ph.D. in Composition and Cultural Rhetoric from Syracuse University.
“The way I have figured out my career this far is by falling into things when I realize that I like something and then I pursue it, and it’s never something I’m planning in advance.” Hitt said.
Hitt aspired to be a lawyer growing up and it wasn’t until she saw the way her mother’s teaching touched people’s lives that she found her calling as a teacher. She aims to mirror her mother’s teaching style by keeping her main focus on how she can help people.
“I approach teaching as not just teaching people things, but how am I helping them either personally or giving them something they can take with them that they will find helpful later,” Hitt said.
Hitt said she never gets bored with her job because each semester is a new set of classes and a new group of students and even if she’s taught the same class numerous times it will always be different because it is based on who the people in the class are.
In her free time she hikes with her dog, Queenie, in the Ozarks and in State Parks around Arkansas. She also enjoys cross stitching. She cross stitches self care quotes and distributes them to other faculty in their offices.
“Inevitably students come in and just start staring at them, and I want them to have reassurance,” Hitt said.
Hitt says the two pieces of advice she has for every college student is you do not have to have everything figured out, sometimes you have to let yourself try different things to know what you like.
Also, do not forget how important it is to take care of yourself and find things that make you feel like a complete person rather than just a frazzled student.
Photo by Lauren Swaim.
