First time on the job

Before I talk about the events of today's session, I believe I should reflect on my very first. Seeing as how I have finally got around to making this blog, now would be a good time to do that.

When it comes to working at the writing center, you honestly don't know who you'd end up tutoring today and quite frankly, that shouldn't even matter. Anyone who comes into the writing center is here for the same purpose: to get help in their writing. But it's also best to make sure, as a peer tutor, to understand that we're all on the same level. The challenge that brings to the table is for the writer to be aware of that too.

Starting off, peer tutoring was a new concept for me; almost foreign. As excited as I was to be a part of the Writing Center, I felt quite anxious that I wouldn't give an adequate amount of help a writer needs when they come to see me for advice of their papers. I'm still a student, I'm still learning alongside these writers. Them and myself are alike in that sense. The readings we were assigned to before our meetings really helped me gain more confidence in my ability to tutor. Like what Mairin and Carrie had said before, we are all learning as tutors and as students.

Over the course of two weeks, three in counting, I have had several appointments. One that I can still recall is my very first session with an ESL student. She had needed help with her grammar, expecting me to correct it all for her. Based on the readings and orientation, grammar was the last that I wanted to do; however, she did not come in for anything else other than help with her grammar so that had to be done. I did not have her sit there while I go over her paper in red ink, rather I have her let me read it to her to see if she could catch any of the mistakes she has made; which she had corrected a couple herself. Then go through it again and this time explain to her why we make these corrections; whether, it would be a misplaced comma or misspelling. During the end of our session, I had advise her to go to the Academic Success Center for more tips on grammar. To me, they focus more on grammar while the Writing Center focuses more on key concepts of a writer's paper.

I also had a graduate student. This somewhat irked me more than working with ESL students.ESL students are fine with me because I was fine with correcting my mother's own grammar when she wanted me to go through her papers or e-mail to make sure it made sense. I guess that counts as having some experience with people who has English as a second language. As for graduates, they are older and their writing must be more extensive than undergraduates in an English 101 or 102 class. That wasn't the case, much to my surprise. I could definitely understand the entirety of his paper, as well as helping him add more detail in some parts of his paper that wasn't so clear.

In all my sessions, I would always ask the question, "Do you feel comfortable now than you were when you first walked in here?" And usually their answer is yes and I would take their word for it. The fact of the matter is I want them to feel more comfortable in what they're writing, that their writing isn't as terrible as they deemed it to be when I asked them about their progress prior to meeting with me at the Writing Center. Writing is something I love and I want to share this love of writing with others who I tutor.