Collaboration, Not Criticism
Working at the Writing Center over the past year has been an absolute blast, and I really will miss it after Fairfield. Writing is one of my all-time favorite activities; it’s my outlet, it’s my way of expressing myself, and it’s my passion! What I didn’t know until I started working at the Writing Center, however, is that I love helping others with their writing just as much—if not more—than I love to write myself. There’s something really special about helping other people through their own creative processes. We get so many different people through the Writing Center. From nursing students to engineering students to students taking EN11, I’ve been able to read everything from clinical studies to essays about Paradise Lost. Although I’m the tutor, I find that I’m usually the one who’s doing more of the learning. Helping students to better express themselves
has translated to my own work, and my sessions often inspire me to look at my own writing more closely. Our students always come in with such amazing things to say, and I’ve found that my expertise usually comes with limits. Most of the time, all it takes is a few suggestions, a smile, and a few words of encouragement to send students off to work on their own. Although going to your first session can be a little intimidating (I was definitely nervous the first time I brought my paper in!), the Writing Center is one of the most welcoming places on campus. It is a place for collaboration—definitely not criticism!—and together, students and tutors can help to make essays worthy of a Pulitzer Prize (or a grade that you can proudly tack on your dorm room fridge). I will genuinely miss seeing the students I’ve gotten to know over this past year, but I know for a fact that they’re in good hands with next year’s crop of tutors. It’s been so much fun, Writing Center: keep on keeping on!
