One semester in the Center down; many more to go

As we near the end of the semester, I find myself doing a lot of reflection. I remember the very first time all of us met as a group back in August, right before I went to climb Mount Borah! I remember planning way ahead for that meeting, because the Writing Center has been important to me for a long time. I even planned my Borah trip around the meeting. Still, I had no idea just how much it would affect me.

I wrote about this for my internship reflection, but I’ll reiterate it here. My work in the Center has changed my life—that is no exaggeration! I was by no means directionless prior to working in the Center, but now, I have a new direction that just feels RIGHT! I am comfortable with it, but I know I will be challenged as well. I feel at home with the English department now, as if I’ve really made the right choices: I became an English major and stuck with it and applied for this job at the Writing Center. The work I’ve done in the Center thus far has been hard and confusing at times, but more often, it has been rewarding and wonderful! I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after I graduate and had a half-baked plan to teach abroad for a while until I figured out what I wanted to do. But now that I’ve found my niche, I know I need to ride this wave for a while. I love being at a university now that I’m involved in my department. I am actually excited to continue with my education after I get my bachelor’s degree, instead of craving a well-deserved break from school. So I’ve decided I’m going to apply for graduate school next semester, to begin grad school in Fall 2011.

This brings me to my next point—Melissa! I know you will read this, so I just wanted to thank you a hundred times for all you’ve done this semester. You are enthusiastic, compassionate, and organized, and it is absolutely contagious! I look up to you quite a bit—more than you realize! You partially inspired my “new direction” in life (or at least my academic life). :) Our next director will have big shoes to fill thanks to Mike, but also thanks to you! You have set the standards very high. You’ve accomplished so much, and I really appreciate the conversations and guidance you’ve given to me about writing center work as well as graduate school advice, etc. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Speaking of awesome people… I often wonder how it is that I found so many awesome people within such a small place (our Center). Maybe it’s just an English major thing… :) but I truly enjoy the company of my coworkers—we talk and laugh, but get down to business when necessary.

This job has brought be so many wonderful things. The people, the teachers, a closer link to the English department, the tutoring experience, more familiarity with the writing process, the magic and beauty of consultations, as well as the opportunity to take part in the Fellyn program, (soon to be AKA: Writing Mentor program)… all of these wonderful things are part of my life now, and I am forever grateful. I have never been so thoroughly happy with my school and work situation. I am getting a little bit choked up now, just writing about it. Life is very good.

This is my last journal entry of this semester, and today, I worked my last few hours of this semester in the Center. As I said to Jenny, Eric, and Phil as I left the Center, it was a bittersweet day. But I still have a year left—my glorious senior year!—until I graduate. And even then, I have a feeling I will be back.

Nothing is perfect, right? I’m sure this writing center deal isn’t perfect, but it certainly feels close.

Dear Writing Center, and all those involved, thank you for everything!

Community

This idea of community is really striking a chord with me lately. I walked into the Center today at an abnormal hour for me, because I had an exam and got out of one of my classes really early. I went to the Center because, well, where else would I go? I could have wondered around the ILC until I found a spot to sit and pretend to be doing something productive, but that didn’t even occur to me, because I have a home on campus now: the Writing Center!

Everyone I work with has been friendly. Going into the Center at odd hours was an awesome experience for me, because I got to see people I don’t normally see. And, not surprisingly, these people were also very friendly. I just love the sense of community the Center provides. It has definitely given me direction, not just as far as graduating and getting done with my bachelor’s degree, but with my life as a whole. I have learned so much from this experience already, and I’m nowhere near being done here. On top of all that, I’ve met some amazing people that truly care about writing—theirs and others. They also care about me, and I care about them. And on a less serious note, I have a break room now… which somehow represents that this job is serious and the people who are employed by it are close knit enough to share a break room. Maybe it’s silly, but I thoroughly enjoy that tiny room! This job has actually made me partially wish that I wasn’t going to graduate so soon. (Not until December 2010, but still close.)

Our writing center community is not just for the consultants, though. Something really cool happened a while ago on Facebook… ugh, Facebook. Anyway, one of my friends had set his status to be something like “Stuck in the library writing a paper all day. Why can’t writing be easy?” and one of his friends commented on it, saying that there is “this great resource on campus that you can take your paper to” but she couldn’t remember the name. I didn’t assume that she was talking about the Center, but I also commented on my friend’s status, suggesting that he come into the Center. Then, the same friend that commented before I did commented again, saying “YES! That’s it! The Writing Center! The best resource BSU has to offer.” WOW! I was thrilled! So not only are we leaving lasting impressions with the people who work in the Center, but also with graduates that value our service so much! We clearly made them feel welcome enough to return and to appreciate what we have to offer. This Facebook event was just too cool!

As much as I loved the conversation we had tonight about community in writing centers, the mood shifted when Melissa started talking about her “oasis” idea, because of the guy, (what was his name?) who opened up the conference with a story of a student who used his writing center, but clearly it wasn’t an oasis for him, because he went crazy and shot people on campus. This totally shifted the mood of our class tonight; I sat straight up in my chair, at the edge of my seat. (Melissa, I am really bummed for you that he came and rained on your parade like that, by the way. But I’m sure he wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t feel it had some value, right? Besides, I firmly believe our beliefs are strengthened or at least further developed in the face of adversity.) This is so unfortunate; it just plain sucks. But I have to believe that this particular student DID benefit from his writing center in some way. Perhaps he would have reached his tipping point sooner. Maybe his writing center gave him hope for a little while longer. Ultimately it was not enough, nor should a writing center be expected to be, but I have no doubts that it did help him. Maybe I’m too optimistic, but I just have to believe that.

 I can’t help but draw a conclusion to M.D. I have not consulted with her, and honestly, I’m scared to. But part of me wants to reach out to her. Silly me, I kind of think I could help. It’s probably beyond me. I guess all we can do is hope she gets the help she needs. Some people have bigger demons than others...

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” -Plato

Shaken up

Last night in class, we talked about basic writers, and Justin brought up a catalytic point. He said that working with basic writers is great because they possess a raw talent that hasn’t been tapped, and that they aren’t “bored” with their writing yet. Melissa expanded on that point, bringing in her experiences of teaching English 90, 101, and 102. She told us about how hard it is to fail a student who tries their hardest to pass, but just isn’t up to standards. She told us stories of her beginnings as a teacher, feeling overwhelmed by her students’ first papers, and then being blown away by their improvement in the second round of papers. The entire time, I was hanging on Melissa’s every word. For some reason, these stories sparked something inside of me. I have this plan, (that I thought was perfect), to graduate from BSU with my English degree, then travel somewhere to get my TESL certificate, then travel elsewhere to teach abroad for a while, and then eventually return to the states to get a Masters degree in Counseling. But ever since last night, I think I want to be a professor… and teach basic writers the invaluable skill of writing. I feel a little shaken up today, because all this time, I didn’t think I wanted to teach in America. Now, after hearing Melissa’s stories, I’m rethinking everything!

It was odd: as my brain was processing this realization, I resisted it. I didn’t want to reconsider my plans, and I didn’t want to be pulled into this world of teaching composition, because I thought I knew what world I wanted to be in. Now I’m wondering what to do and how to do it all over again. I think I still want to teach abroad, but what after that? I’m lost again, and it kind of feels good… exciting! So, Melissa, thank you for your enthusiasm. You are a refreshing teacher that seems to look at and express things differently, and perhaps that is what I needed to point me in the right direction.

Okay, now onto other things. This week, I had five more consultations. I will have more on Saturday, because I’m working for three hours to fill in for another consultant. That much closer to being paid for this, which will be nice, even if it’s not much! I had a consultation with a sweet lady who immediately told me that she hadn’t written an essay for 17 years- wow! She was very open to suggestions and willing to learn. It was an enjoyable consultation. She reminded me of my aunt, and that’s a good thing. I have had other consultations with non-traditional students, but this one was my favorite so far.

I also had several required visits, inevitably. Both were first-year, stereotypical guys 100-level classes. Except one was engaged and excited to be there, and the other sat back, slouched in his chair. It was all I could do to get the latter student to stay for a full 15 minutes. I searched and searched for useful information in his mind for brainstorming, and I think I helped a little bit. But honestly, he didn’t want to be there. I did get him to smile and laugh a few times so at least we were on the same page about something. I hope he has a better opinion of the Center after that visit.

I also had my first “repeat customer”. We had a brainstorming consultation that was very fun. I got to help her think of ways to approach an environmental research paper, which of course I’m interested in. She’s going to bring it into me when she has some of it written. I love that I can see her progress with the essay, and I love that we are actually establishing a personal relationship, kind of like the Fannie reading we had this week for class. I’m envious of those who get to develop a personal connection with their students and I’m stoked that I am beginning to!

One last thing about learning disabilities: this Michael character made an appointment with me for next Thursday. It’ll be my first time working with him. After last night’s class, I can’t wait to work with him! I had no idea what his situation was and am grateful that Andrea brought it up last night.

Happy Halloween everyone!

E-mails, editing, repeats, and bios

This week in class, we talked about e-mail consultations. I’m really excited to get started with e-mails. I have a feeling that it’ll be something I easily take to. My best friend, Lisa, lives in Florida, and she frequently sends me things that she writes. (She is a Creative Writing major at University of Central Florida). So I have gotten in the habit of doing a sort of e-mail consultation, at least with Lisa. But because I only spend four hours a week in the Center, I don’t want to do too many- maybe one a week. Otherwise, I’m sure I’d miss the face-to-face interaction that e-mails can’t provide. Anyway, I think I’ll probably be the type of e-mail consultant that uses smiley faces. :) :) :)

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about editing as a potential career. I think I might like being a magazine editor. These are all relatively new thoughts, but I can’t help but draw comparisons to the work I do in the Center. It is the same idea in many ways: helping improve writing and develop ideas for an intended audience. But it’s different in that I think editing is less-collaborative. Not that I know for sure, but I view editing as a more linear process: a writer turns in an article to an editor, who corrects and edits it to prepare it for publication. There is less back and forth, less interaction, less conversation. Am I off-base about this?

This editing thing gives me another potential article topic for later in the semester. Is there much written about this connection? Do writing center consultants often end up as editors? Or is it disappointing to them because the interaction factor is missing?

An unrelated concern: we are reading so much writing center literature; it is almost overwhelming, because we are supposed to come up with our own ideas based on all of these readings, and our own observations and experiences. (For the articles we write, and our consulting philosophy). I guess I just worry that since there is so much out there, that we can’t necessarily contribute new ideas to the conversation. And what if we think they’re new ideas, but they’re not?

This week in the Center, I had a consultation with a graduate student who was writing a journal abstract. She asked to set up another appointment with me for next week to brainstorm ideas for an environmental paper she is going to write about feedlots. That means I will be getting my first repeat! I was looking forward to this a lot. Not only do I get to establish more of a relationship with this student, but this also means that I must be doing something right. It’s nice to have that extra reassurance!

Oh, somewhat related to this: I had two consultations this week that answered a question I have had for several weeks now. I wondered if many people actually read our little bios that we have on the online scheduler. I included in mine that I am pursuing an Environmental Studies minor, in hopes that I’d attract environmental papers. And so far, it’s worked twice, to my knowledge. Very cool.

Yet another productive week in the Center!

Halfway

Halfway through the semester now!  Yikes.  I guess if we made it this far, we can make it through the rest!  This week, I don’t have any specific topic I want to write about, just some random thoughts.

I had a consultation this week with a guy who was about to graduate with an Environmental Biology degree.  He was applying for a job with a mining company in Challis, Idaho.  He brought in a resume and wanted my opinion.  He wanted to know what formats he should use, (he didn’t like the current one), and how he could make it more professional.  I was a little worried about this consultation when I saw it on the schedule, (“resume” was all he had given me to anticipate), simply because I don’t want to give faulty advice about something so crucial.  I was happy to discover that the company requirements for the resume were very lenient.  I recommended that he go to Microsoft Office Online to search through their resume templates, and we discussed ways to make his resume more professional, all of which came very easily to me.  I really enjoyed this consultation.  It makes me wonder, though, if this is where people should be bringing their resumes.  I thought that was more for the Career Center than for us.  (Not that I’m complaining!  I liked it.)

I had a consultation with a girl in Christi Nogle’s English 102 class.  I also took English 102 with Christi, so I was familiar with the assignment.  She had written a paper about the conspiracies of 9-11.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get to read the entire essay- I am interested in her topic.  However, this consultation ended up being one of my favorites out of the 14 I have done so far.  (I’m trying to keep track as long as I can!)  We went through and read her essay for clarity and talked about a few minor grammar things, like “is” versus “are”.  (She had brought in some purple beads that someone was handing out on campus.  I pointed to them and said, “this bead IS” and “these beads ARE”.  I think she will probably refer to the bead memory when she is unsure about is/are!)  I taught her a few tricks, and provided her with the punctuation handout, (my favorite).  At the end of the consultation, she told me that I helped her a lot, more than other consultants have.  She said that I “actually taught” her things.  WOW!!!  I was elated!  It seems rare that we get that sort of direct feedback from our students, and I told her how much I appreciated hearing it.

I had my first hour-long consultation this week, with an ESL student from Turkey.  (Actually, English is his third language- Turkish was first, and he is also learning Russian.)  I was a little intimidated by the hour-long consultations, because the one that I observed seemed challenging.  However, the hour was up before I knew it.  We didn’t quite make it through his five-page essay for Management 301.  He had only been learning English for four years, and he had a lot to work on.  There were times I was slightly frustrated with myself for not being able to think of a way to explain a grammar “rule” on the spot.  I want to get better at that- desperately!  A few things I think I did well, though: I asked questions about his English language background, I asked how his day was going at the beginning, I was naturally patient (like so many of our readings this week recommend), and I tried to encourage him with little stars on parts of his paper that I liked.  I thought this was really interesting, and I’ll probably always remember it: the first star I drew, (next to a great transition), he got really excited about it and said, “Yes! A star!”  After that, I remembered all that we have been reading about the importance of encouragement in ESL consultations, and I made it a point to draw more stars on parts of his paper that were good.  I drew stars next to places that he used colons correctly, (because he messed up on one earlier), next to especially well-written sentences, and places were he was consistent with his past-tense writing style.  In the end, he ended up with eight stars!  And he had counted the entire way through!  It left an impression on me- just how much encouragement really matters.  I always try to be encouraging, (because, as I have said before, the last thing I want is to discourage anyone from writing), but I was initially more cautious during that consultation, simply because I wasn’t sure what his expectations were.  He seemed the type that wanted to get down to business.  But as the consultation progressed, I was able to get to know him better.  It’s magical!

Ahhhh… I love the Writing Center!  As a writer, I do not like the idea that something can be inexpressible through words, but honestly, I’m having a hard time explaining just how much I love the work I am doing in the Center.  Melissa, you mentioned in class that if this isn’t the work for us, we are under no obligation to keep going with it next semester.  That’s crazy talk!  I love it.

Okay, the end.

Consultation philosophy ideas

                                                    
Last Friday at our meeting, all of the veteran consultants talked briefly about the papers they wrote for English 303.  Melissa wanted them to tell us 303ers so that we could start thinking about what we might want to write about.  I have been thinking about this for a few weeks now.  I know I still have a lot to learn and experience before I have anything close to a "consulting philosophy", but I can already tell I am forming opinions and making observations that could very well lead to some sort of larger piece of writing.  I have had ten consultations now, and I have spent hours talking about and thinking about many things having to do with writing centers.  So now I have four ideas that I want to write about and get some feedback about.

1.  Years ago, before I had even started the interview process to become a consultant, working with ESL students really intrigued me.  Maybe this is because I an enamored with travel, and dealing with people from far-away places seems relevant.  Anyway, now that I have had two consultations with ESL students, I have learned that I do indeed love to work with ESL students, but also that it is very challenging!  It amazes me how many differences there are between learning English as a native speaker and learning it as a foreign language.  This fascinates me.  I want to teach abroad after I graduate, so I am thinking that maybe it'd be a good idea to focus on ESL consultations for the larger pieces of writing I will be doing in English 303.  I am a little hesitant though; there is so much information for this topic that I already feel overwhelmed by it, and might want to choose a topic that is a little less researched or "cliché".

2.  Another thing I am considering doing after I graduate and after teaching abroad is to go to graduate school for a counseling degree.  I have wanted to be a high school counselor ever since I can remember.  As I get more and more into these writing center consultations, I am seeing many similarities to counseling.  The critical need for personalization within a consultation, active listening, and the idea that every person is different and different strategies will work for different people... all of it seems very related.  I have noticed that I sometimes desire more conversation about feelings, emotions, etc. during a writing conversation.  I sometimes want to ask more about things that won't necessarily contribute to a good writing session.  Don't get me wrong, I definitely talk to students about these things, but not as much as I would in a counseling session.  This natural knack helps me lean even more towards the counseling path.  So I am considering exploring this link further, and I am curious if there is information about the writing center consultation/counseling link...?

3.  I know some of the veterans wrote about writing center metaphors.  The quote "give a man a fish, he eats for a day; teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime" resonates with me pretty much every day I am in the Center.  "Give a student a paper, he writes for a day.  Teach a student to write, he writes for a lifetime."... or something like that.  I am contemplating developing this idea further.

4.  The "person analogy" is something that sort of came out of thin air during one of my consultations.  I was trying to explain that you often shouldn't write an introduction until after you've written the other parts of a paper because "you can't introduce someone you don't know".  Then, in a consultation the next day, I pulled more out of thin air and ran with it.  I used the "person analogy" to explain the entire organization of a paper.  I said that the introduction was like saying, "Here is April.  She likes to be outside.  She has blonde hair and blue eyes."  The following paragraphs can include "research about April" or "interviews with experts (friends) about April".  You can explain "why should I care about April".  And then, you can "form your opinion about April".  The paper is a person.  What do you think?  It seemed to help a lot in the two consultations I have used it in, and I am thinking about developing it further.

Alright... there are my four ideas!  I hope they get you thinking like they have for me!

In love

This magical writing center bug is still running through my veins like crazy.  Every day I feel that I learn something new and discover something that I love about it.  For today, I am high on the following thought: every consultation I have done thus far has been entirely different!  I’ve had six so far.  I’ll explain that later.  This concept, I feel, ties very nicely into the readings we did this week; especially the chapter from A Bedford Guide about working with writers across the curriculum.  So I want to very briefly summarize the consultations I have had so far, in order to demonstrate just how varied and awesome they have been!  Here we go:

Consultation #1: A student came in for brainstorming for an English 102 paper about a language group other than her own.  We came up with a plan: she was going to go have a smoothie at Flying M, (not coffee, because she doesn’t like their coffee), and observe, take notes, and write about the gay community that circulates through that particular coffeehouse.  She left excited to write- a nice change from the beginning.

Consultation #2: Oh, yes, a Music 101 paper from Belfy’s class.  Inevitably, I got one of those.  The student had written a solid two page essay, and I temporarily panicked because I didn’t know how to help her, since it was great already.  But then I fell back on the “show, don’t tell”, and ended up with a very productive consultation.

Consultation #3: Another Music 101 paper for Belfy, but this time, it was off the deep end religious beliefs tied in with the student’s passion for music.  Go figure!- our beliefs were entirely opposite, which surprisingly immediately excited me.  To be able to sit down, side-by-side, with someone of completely different beliefs, and still emerge from the consultation with an undeniable sense of progress… that is a beautiful thing.

Consultation #4: My first walk in!  Hallelujah!  It’s about time!  Oh wait… she wants help on MLA formatting?  For a Math paper?  I could’ve passed it on to Andrea, but Andrea encouraged me to go for it, so I did.  This is the thing I feared the most, simply because although I use MLA all the time, I was so afraid I would mess up some tiny specification of it.  But you know what, I don’t think I did.  And the student, who initially stated that she was pretty sure she didn’t need help, (she was only required, after all), actually did have errors that I easily recognized.  She even graciously accepted my suggestions.

Consultation #5: Another walk in, on the same day no less!  And it gets even better: my first ESL consultation.  I was entirely stoked, to say the least.  I have plans to teach abroad after I graduate.  For some reason, it has always intrigued me.  So to be able to help ESL students also intrigues me to no-end.  The student had grammar questions, and questions about memo format, for a human resources management course.  The consultation went well and I could tell I helped him, (he was very grateful), but I also learned a lot… or at least learned that the bottom of the pyramid exists.  (“Knowledge is like an upside-down pyramid, starting at a narrow point and forever expanding…” –Tom Brown)  The pyramid is all of the things that are different and necessary in an ESL consultation.  I KNOW English grammar, but how do I explain it?  I am excited to learn different strategies to explain English to people who don’t have that instinctive ability to comprehend it.

Consultation #6: When I walked in today, Ben said to me, (long winded as always, but we love him anyway), “April, so, we have out there a student… and the student’s name is ‘Princess’… and she has an assignment due that she gets optional extra credit for coming in to us…” and he kept rambling for a while, so I decided to cut to the chase and ask if she wanted a walk in appointment.  He said yes, she does, so I of course volunteered myself!  Princess had an essay for English 102, which I gave suggestion for expansion that came from casual conversation about her topic.  It made me feel so amazing to hear, “yes, that is such a good idea!” from her.  Wow.  Okay, anyway, I indicated that I had some more time, so she cautiously asked if I could look at her novel, to which of course I said yes, although I was a tiny bit scared.  Fiction isn’t my forte.  But surprisingly, I HELPED!  She said she wanted to come back in and see me, too.  Can it get any better than this?

Granted, I know sometimes things will get boring.  I know I will have the not-so-great consultations.  But right now, I am happy, and I want to express that!

So I have had Music, English, Human Resources Management, fiction writing, memos, Math papers, MLA questions, even religion- all within my first six consultations.  Talk about working across the curriculum!  I absolutely love the unexpectedness of it all.  In a weird way, I’m almost excited for my first “crash and burn”.  Or maybe I have already had a crash and burn, but haven’t recognized it as that because I am too blinded by love… love for the Writing Center!

My First Consultations

In the very first consultation I observed, Tiffany greeted the student by shaking his hand, and asking how to pronounce his very foreign name, which made all of us laugh.  I thought that was a good way to establish a friendly connection from the beginning, and now that I’ve done my own consultations, I’ve already learned how much I value smiles and laughs during a consultation, especially at the beginning and end.  Both Tiffany’s and the student’s body language were excellent the entire time; she leaned in towards the paper, on the front of her seat, never sitting back in an unengaged way.

At one point during the session, the student asked Tiffany how old she was.  She was caught off guard, as was I, and he cut the silence by saying, “sorry… I just… I feel that with age, brings wisdom, so are you over 30?” to which Tiffany seemed a little more relaxed, and replied that she was 25.  She brought attention back to the paper in a more blunt way: she simply said “okay, now coming back to the paper…”  I guess I would’ve handled the situation in a similar way, but it was definitely something I didn’t expect, and I’m glad I didn’t have to contribute to that part of the consultation!  And she somehow managed to give him enough examples about how to correct tense, grammar, and punctuation that he left about five minutes early, clearly eager to get back to writing.  I thought it was a very successful consultation, despite the awkward age question.

Now, moving on from the prompts Melissa gave us: I had two consultations on Thursday, and I’m on the schedule for half an hour next week.  I feel like this is such an important time in my “consulting life”- the beginning!  I can never again have a first consultation.  I wrote about my first one on Peer Centered, but there are a few things I observed that I want to include in my journal.  First of all, I realized how much I value making a personal connection.  I love sharing a laugh and a smile at the beginning- after all, laughing is good medicine for a potentially stressful environment.  It makes everyone more comfortable.  I also noticed, after thinking a lot about my consultations, that at the end of both of them I thanked them for coming in.  I didn’t even realize I was doing this.  It just came naturally to me.  I am an inherently happy and optimistic person, and I can already see that coming through in my consulting.  It seemed second nature to use what my English 102 professor called “compliment sandwiches”.  While reading a paper, I said, “I really like this sentence”, or “this is a good way to do this”, and then sandwiched it with a suggestion for improvement.  The last thing I ever want is to discourage someone from writing.  I also said “this assignment has a lot of potential”, “this sounds like it’ll be fun”, and “this is I interesting” during my brainstorming consultation.  I could tell the student wasn’t initially very excited to do the assignment, but after the session, she was!

(As a side note, I really liked seeing Melissa and Joy conducting consultations.  I love that they did that.  It gave me a good feeling.  We’re all working together towards a common goal.  And I am really impressed how well we all handled it when two of our veterans got sick!)

This consulting thing is amazing.  I was so happy and felt so accomplished after I finally got to do it.  I am totally hooked.  It seems so perfect.  I am a quiet person in groups, but one on one, magic happens.  I love the dynamic that goes on between two people, and I feel like I can really get in there and help out in situations like our center provides.  I’ve said it before, but I feel like I’ve found my home, or my “center”, on campus, and it means so much to me!  I’m so glad I got this opportunity!

Ready to run

I am ready. I might not be great at it yet, but I think I am ready to have my own consultations. I have sat in on several, “creeped” in on several more, written pages and pages of notes, and spent hours analyzing and daydreaming about consultations. I have started pretending like I was the consultant during my sit ins, having conversations with the student in my head. I listen intently to what the student has to say, and then I contemplate what I would say in response. Sometimes that is different than what I observe the consultant doing, but effective nonetheless. Sometimes it is similar, which boosts my confidence.

Our reading for this week has corresponded more directly than any other previous week. As I listened to and sat in on consultations, the ideas and words of “Helping Writers throughout the Writing Process” from The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors and “Provocative Revision” by Toby Fulwiler were ringing through my head. I witnessed global and sentence level revision, addition, brainstorming, grammar lessons, and various writing processes. It almost seemed like the consultants I heard had memorized these pieces. But I doubt that. I think they probably got some ideas from these pieces, but honestly it seemed like what they were doing came naturally to them. They have done these consultations for hours and hours, and have learned to adapt to each student and consultation, so they can easily do whatever it is that the student needs. This is fascinating to me, and I already see myself working towards that. The wheels are spinning, and I am developing myself as a consultant. And the Writing Center “bug” is alive and well inside of me. It’s an exciting time, and next week when I go into the Center, I’m going to be hoping for a walk-in!

Last night in class, we talked about the readings, but in smaller groups instead of as an entire class. I thought that was really effective. I am a quiet person, (always have been), and it was much easier to share my ideas and make sure everyone else was heard when in smaller groups. I found myself taking on the role of comforter. Some of the people in my group were scared of certain things to come, like their first consultation and the consultation philosophy, and I surprised myself with the things that came out of my mouth. I mentioned that a few weeks ago, the things we are doing now seemed scary, and now they are not. I believe that will be the same case with all of the other things we are scared or worried about. I am much more ready than I thought I was. And I’m glad I was able to help ease the fears of my fellow consultants.

Another thing that struck me about class last night was something Melissa said at the end, about not letting ourselves become stale in our work at the Center. I liked the word she chose, because it gave me such a clear understanding of what she was trying to say. I also love the concept. In order to work in the Center, we have to be lifelong learners, constantly challenging what we think we know. That’s harder than other approaches, but by far the most interesting and rewarding, and I’m glad I’ve found an opportunity to do that.

This was by far the best week yet! And I have a feeling it will only get better once I get to do consultations. I figured I’d be ready before week seven, but this is week four and I’m already excited to dive in!

Creeping and Sitting-In

I went through the process to become a consultant because I thought it sounded like something I could be good at and really enjoy doing. I had no idea there were so many factors that went into it- the theory AND practice of it. There is this entire community of writing center people that I am now a part of. It’s almost like a disease- once you catch the writing center bug, it’s extremely hard to get rid of, but it seems like most people don’t want to get rid of it anyway. After witnessing my first consultation, I think I’m starting to feel “sick”. I fell susceptible to the magic that goes on in a consultation, and now I am hooked, and excited to see more consultations. Even better, soon I will have my own!

The first consultation I witnessed was an hour long with Tiffany and an enthusiastic ESL student who had been into our center “millions of times”. I was excited to sit in on this particular consultation because working with ESL students is something I am particularly interested in. I sat quietly taking notes for the first half hour, observing body language, tone of voice, and various techniques Tiffany used. Then there was a part of the consultation when Tiffany was searching for another word that the student could use in place of “too”. I said, “Excessively?” Tiffany and the student agreed that that would work, and the student thanked me. I tried to contain my excitement. It’s funny that something so simple can not only help the student, but make me feel so important. I will probably always remember that moment, because it was the moment I really knew I was sold on this idea of helping people with their writing, and I had this overwhelming feeling that “I can do this!”

After the session, Tiffany and I talked about it for a few minutes. She pointed out a few things, one of them being the issue of writing the paper for the student. She said sometimes she just has to lay her pencil down, (a great technique), to prevent adding too much of her own opinion and words to the student’s work. She also mentioned that sometimes she will verbalize another way of writing a certain phrase or sentence, and the student will ask, “can you say that again?” and write it down. But Tiffany is very careful not to say anything that the student didn’t already create in his or her head- she repeats what the student says, and the student sometimes doesn’t even realize that the idea came from This made me think about the collaboration issues that we talk about so much in class. Professors and others in positions of authority have to place an enormous amount of trust in us, as consultants, to not overstep any boundaries when it comes to collaborating on a paper. It’s as simple as that, really. We are doing something very valuable in the Center- can you imagine trying to track the positive influence our center has had on every student and beyond over the past few decades? So we have to keep going, keep consulting, and continue with our “weak” collaboration. We are all so connected as a human race, constantly influencing each other in direct and indirect ways, so I agree that it’s practically impossible to write with absolutely no collaboration. If only everyone would open their minds to that concept, understanding that there are different types, and trusting us at the Center to not overstep the boundary.

One last thing: the consultant philosophy. This used to scare me a little. I used to think it would be difficult to come up with an elaborate, polished philosophy of what I was doing at the Center. After talking with Tiffany and several other consultants, I realized that, although they share a common goal, each of them has his or her own way of doing things, and it surprised me just how different their approaches can be. But it all works. So I’m not scared of this “consultant philosophy” concept anymore. Bring it on! I can’t wait to get started.

My first days in the Center

As my first hour interning in the Center approached, I was not nervous at all. I have contemplated and planned on being a part of the Center for about two years now, so it seems natural to finally become a part of it. I remember my first visit to the Center: I was required to go in to talk about an Environmental Health paper about controversial DDT usage. I had no idea what this so-called Writing Center was, only that I needed to emerge with proof of my visit after my consultation, in order to get full credit for my paper. Instead, I came away with much more than proof. I loved the idea of the Center, and the feeling of community inside. The employees there were friendly with me, and friendly with each other. Little did I know that I actually had a chance to become a permanent part of that community.
Now, two years later, I am a consultant at the Writing Center! No, I haven’t had consultations yet, (although I can’t wait to get started with them), but I have a name badge, and I’m starting to feel like I have finally found my home on campus. My first hour in the Center was on Tuesday, (September 1st). I walked in to see smiling and somewhat familiar faces, and got another short tour of the Center. I even had my own mailbox—now I am legit!

I am humored by my initial idea of what a writing center is as compared to what I now believe it to be. I have come a long way, (and keep in mind that I still have a long way to go, so bare with me as I try to define a center). Last week, we started diving into readings about what a center is. It is not necessarily a resource for those who take a very passive approach to their writing, (although I certainly hope I have a chance to inspire those “types” to be more engaged in their work). More specifically, a writing center is a place for any writer, of any skill level, to talk to people who know writing, who care about writing, and who know how to talk about writing, at any stage. I love the principle that a writing center is a place for anyone who writes. It’s very welcoming and the possibilities are endless, both for the writers themselves and the consultants that work with them.

As I sat at the desk, sorting through old files, erasing old names, and throwing out old information sheets, I overheard a little bit of a consultation. I only heard bits and pieces of it, but that was enough to excite me. The man who came in said he wanted “another set of eyes” to go over his short, one-page paper. You could tell he was eager to work on his writing, and he was very grateful, before and after the consultation. It’s people like that who I most look forward to working with. However, there is something appealing to me about the “crash and burn” consultations, the ones that are resistant or uninterested, because those ones have so much potential to change someone’s perspective, or better yet, inspire them to write as I have been inspired. I want to share my love for the written word, and help everyone see that they all have important things to say, and there are people who will listen!