K.M. Begian-Lewis is the newest addition to Ferris State University’s Department of English, Literature and World Languages, bringing a fresh perspective to the area of developmental English.
Begian-Lewis, who uses they/them pronouns, is the latest assistant professor of English at Ferris. They have been in Big Rapids for just over a month, giving them enough time to settle into their new role and begin shaping their contributions to the department.
Having recently completed a PhD in Rhetoric and Writing Studies at Wayne State University, Begian-Lewis now teaches developmental English at Ferris, which is known as English 074. In this class, Begian-Lewis has made it their goal to focus on time management, confidence-building and student-centered learning.
English 074 at Ferris is a foundational course aimed at preparing students for the challenges of college-level writing. Typically taken by students who may not place directly into English 150, the class emphasizes grammar, sentence structure and the writing process.
Their approach to teaching is rooted in personal experience. As someone who faced being homeless while growing up and often received discouraging feedback on their writing, Begian-Lewis understands how academic criticism can affect a student’s confidence. They used these experiences to develop their teaching philosophy and drive their commitment to creating a more supportive classroom environment.
“So when I decided to go back to school to teach English, the one thing I wanted was to be the kind of teacher who acknowledges that some people don’t have time to work on stuff the same way as other people, who was flexible and who didn’t look at writing the same way that I felt like my instructors had kind of looked at it early on,” Begian-Lewis said. “This is why I kind of focus on making sure people understand the concepts and that they’re engaging with the material instead of focusing too much on things like contractions.”
Their journey through the rigorous demands of earning a PhD while balancing work, personal challenges and time constraints gives them a unique ability to truly relate to students. They understand firsthand what it means to persevere through overwhelming circumstances.
Rather than expecting perfection, they focus on growth, effort and the importance of meeting students where they are.
“Instead of focusing on content like spelling, grammar and things like that it’s mainly just making sure you take enough time to write and you’re pushing through to write, even though you maybe have writer’s block,” Begian-Lewis said.
Begian-Lewis holds four degrees from Wayne State University including their most recent PhD in Rhetoric and Writing Studies. Before joining Ferris, they taught developmental English for students at Wayne State where many of them spoke Spanish as a first language.
One of the key reasons Begian-Lewis chose Ferris was for the community. Coming from a low-income background and being a first-generation college student, they were drawn to Ferris’s population of first-generation and working-class students.
“I’m looking forward to the smaller community and hopefully engaging students with the community,” Begian-Lewis said. “I like doing community service and I like connecting with students doing refocus, because I could have used it at Wayne State and I don’t think they had anything like that so I think the community is the thing that drew me here the most.”
Reflecting on their own experiences with discouraging feedback, Begian-Lewis understands just how deeply words from a professor can impact a student’s path. It’s that awareness that drives their approach to teaching and mentoring today.
“The part that makes me really sad… is that for everyone who hears that and goes, ‘I’ve got a fire lit, here I go,’ there are so many people who don’t have the self-push to get through the negative feedback,” Begian-Lewis said.
With empathy, resilience and a student-first mindset, Begian-Lewis is excited to bring a more supportive future for developmental English at Ferris.