Welcome!

My name is Thano Prokos, and I’m a second-year writing tutor at the DePaul University Center for Wrtiting-based Learning! Besides my work at the writing center, I also serve as the president of DePaul’s Orthodox Christian Fellowship, as well as the OCF National Publications chair, and in addition to that, I serve as the treasurer for the DePaul Hellenic Student Association, and a DePaul Interfaith Scholar. I also enjoy unicorns, fine chocolate, and long walks on the beach.

I’m currently finishing up my undergraduate degree in secondary education with a concentration in English, and preparing for my next venture into writing-education—student teaching.

I initially joined the UCWbL because I thought it would be good practice for my future teaching career. Now that I’m close to two years into this job, I’ve noticed that UCWbL-ing has been phenomenal teaching practice because of the wide insight it gives tutors into different writing processes and because of the close relationship it builds  between tutor and writer.

So, how about a quick walk-through through this portfolio. Here’s two things I bet you noticed:

1)    I’ve picked a very delectable choice in color scheme, and the purple and beige layers of my portfolio are really nicely accented by that thin, gold trim.

2)    Between the picture of Jesus in my top banner, and the writing, bearded man in the Welcome-box, this web-page may seem more like a church than a portfolio. All that’s really missing is the smell of incense pouring out of your speakers and the passing of a collection plate.

As I mentioned before, a lot of my work at DePaul has been done within the Orthodox Church. Though I have many passions in life, Orthodoxy is the chief of all of them, and I try to make my Orthodoxy the backbone of whatever I do. Naturally, that philosophy applies to writing.

The first picture that I’ll address is the picture of what looks like a saint writing down in his chamber. I believe that everything that I do should be done with some greater purpose, or with the intention of improving either myself or the world around me. That’s an ideal that comes from my Christianity, but I believe that it’s something that can apply to all writers. That kind of attitude—the desire to dedicate your labor to making the world a better place requires passion and a sincerity in writing.

I want my writer to feel like his essay on “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” was the best essay that they could write because it allowed more people to appreciate T.S. Elliot’s writing. I want my other writer’s lab report to be the best lab report that they can write because made them better understand the intricacies of science—and when they see me again, then I want their new work to be even better than their previous work. Why? Because writing is a process.

That brings me to my upper banner—an icon of “The Ladder of Divine Ascent.” For a teaching tool on Orthodox salvation, it can actually be perceived as quite morbid. You’ve got a bunch of people climbing a ladder reaching up to heaven while demons try to pull them off.

There are two real key things that I want to bring up in this icon though. The first: people are falling off the ladder in different stages. The second: people are constantly getting back on the ladder as well. The icon teaches the view that salvation is a process—even those who are really really close can mess up and fall off. The important thing is that they get back on.

Writing works in a similar way. I’ve produced essays and blogs that I’ve loved. I thought they were gold. If I weren’t me, then I would have flagged myself down in a parking lot, and begged myself for an autograph. I’ve written other essays that I haven’t been the least bit proud of—and that’s ok. Sometimes writers produce great writing, sometimes it’s not so great. However, the goal of tutoring is to give them a chance to reflect, ask questions, gain new insight, and work their way back up the ladder of writing.

So, take some time to peruse this portfolio and evaluate my own development for yourself. Thanks for your time, and welcome once again!