Coming back to university as a mature student certainly had its challenges, which I was only able to meet with the guidance of the outstanding faculty, whose compassion and wisdom exceeded my expectations. When I began the masters program, my goal was to gain a stronger knowledge base from which to teach ESL. My interests veered over to the writing studies stream after a few short weeks of working as a teaching assistant at Carleton’s Writing Tutorial Service. This experience ultimately led to my research topic on first year students’ writing needs. Since graduating, I have attained teaching positions at Carleton University and the University of Toronto, both in the areas of ESL and Engineering Communication. I would not have been considered for any of these positions without my masters degree in language studies. My new career in teaching, particularly in writing communication, has been rewarding and I look forward to ongoing opportunities within the field.