High School Level English and College Level English tutor

About James

As indicated by my age and dates for earning my college degrees, I am something of a late bloomer in my academic pursuits. After retiring from home building (with a nudge from the Great Recession), I decided to do something that very few retirees would even dream of: returning to college life at the age of 61. I chose social sciences. And earning a bachelor’s degree in assigned subjects did not totally satisfy that pursuit. I wanted the freedom to pursue independent research and essay writing on topics of my own choosing -- and earn a master’s degree to boot – just for the fun of it. I earned a 3.73 GPA as a grad student.

During my 4 years at UW as an undergrad and graduate student, I decided to publish some of my research works online at the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) website

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=***

Interested researchers can download research papers from SSRN free of charge. Some 414,000 authors have published their various papers at SSRN; and there is no limit to the number of papers that any one author may submit. Authors are ranked by total downloads of all submitted papers. I published just seven such papers at SSRN in a two-year time frame and yet downloads of my work rank me in the top 10% all-time (944 downloads and counting).

Saws and hammers are handy for sure; but as a career home builder and homeowner association president, I always considered my talent for explaining complex concepts in simple terms to be my most valuable tool. In other words, I have an innate talent to teach and explain. Those who know me would concur.

EDUCATION
College Degree: Master of Arts in Policy Studies. University of Washington.
Cumulative 3.73 GPA. Graduated June, 2016.

College Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Law, Economics and Public Policy. University of Washington. Cumulative 3.64 GPA. Graduated June, 2014.

RESEARCH PAPERS AND WRITING SAMPLES
Social Science Research Network. Research Papers archived and available for download at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=***

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
1984-2011. President/owner of Storybook Homes Inc. Woodinville, WA

Administrative. Direct oversight of new home construction, property acquisitions and sales, market forecasts and budget presentations to financial institutions.

Stakeholder Issues. Coordination with home buyers, architects, engineers, surveyors, subcontractors, suppliers, title insurers, real estate agents, attorneys and building departments.

Operations. Subcontractor supervision, real estate development, quality assurance and after-market customer care.



1997-2011. HOA President. Woodinville, WA. 41-Home Suburban Subdivision. (part-time)

Administrative. Budgeting, forecasting and presiding over Home Owners’ Association annual meetings.

Stakeholder Issues. Objective interpretation of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions. Conflict resolution.

Operations. Oversight of maintenance and improvements to common areas.