Rachel was an extraordinary teacher on many levels. Apart from knowing so much about craft and being able to share that with her students she made the experience more intimate and valuable by paying close attention to everything we were doing individually as we applied new concepts and influences to our works-in-progress. She was very professional, warm and encouraging. I really enjoyed working with her.  It got me back to writing again after a long lapse and I am now at a point where I’m beginning to submit work to contests in publications.