"Listen, I’ve already gone over my paper and found all of the errors," a semi-deep voice informed me, interrupting my train of thought as I struggled over a math problem. Scrolling my eyes upward, I found a dark-haired student standing in front of me, shoving an open folder complete with neat side pockets and three brads to hold the work in place.
"Okay," I replied, a wide smile slowly but surely spreading across my face; I was still a bit startled because I hadn’t noticed that anyone had entered the Writing Center.
I opened my mouth to talk, but I was interrupted by the student’s impatient voice, "I’ve had several friends look over my work, and they say its fabulous - sure to get an ‘A’...so, I’m just here to fill the requirement for my English 1010 course."
Racing to fit a sentence in, I nearly interrupted him with, "Well, have a seat here at the table next to me, and we’ll go over your assignment together."
The student carefully checked his watch, "Actually," he sighed, "I’m supposed to meet some people at the other end of campus in five minutes, so could we make this quick?"
I slowly took a breath and calmly said, "It generally takes at least twenty minutes to successfully go over a paper, so it may take a little longer than you’ve assumed."
"The only thing I was really concerned with was the effectiveness of my thesis statement...do you think you could take a look at that?" he asked, as he placed the piece of writing in front of me on the table. Leaning over me, he read the first paragraph to himself, following along with his finger. "Here it is!" he announced as his finger came to rest in the middle of his opening paragraph.
I looked down and slowly read, "And this idea is what I plan to support with the evidence contained in the following paragraphs of my essay." I sorted through the millions of thoughts that immediately wanted to come pouring out of my mouth, and fought the incredibly tempting desire to take over and correct. I was about to suggest he come in at a different time to work out a strategy for clarity with his thesis statement when a gentle digital melody began to resonate from the back pocket of his jeans. Grabbing his cell phone, he quickly collected his paper, and started to walk toward the door. "You know, I can tell you’re new...you weren’t much help...you should work on your tutoring technique, but thanks anyway!" he yelled as he stumbled out the door, and began to talk to the person who was beckoning him on his cellular device.
Just as I began to feel disheartened, the bitter taste of my pencil awoke me from the daydream to which I had drifted away. This subtle, subconscious vacation reminds me that in addition to my worries about lack of English intelligence, I am also afraid of the attitudes of others, and my ability to help them. The fact that I have not taken an English class in over a year is largely responsible for this, I believe. However, I have found great joy in helping others in different areas of my life, so I hope I can also find joy in helping others with something I enjoy to do so much.
"Okay," I replied, a wide smile slowly but surely spreading across my face; I was still a bit startled because I hadn’t noticed that anyone had entered the Writing Center.
I opened my mouth to talk, but I was interrupted by the student’s impatient voice, "I’ve had several friends look over my work, and they say its fabulous - sure to get an ‘A’...so, I’m just here to fill the requirement for my English 1010 course."
Racing to fit a sentence in, I nearly interrupted him with, "Well, have a seat here at the table next to me, and we’ll go over your assignment together."
The student carefully checked his watch, "Actually," he sighed, "I’m supposed to meet some people at the other end of campus in five minutes, so could we make this quick?"
I slowly took a breath and calmly said, "It generally takes at least twenty minutes to successfully go over a paper, so it may take a little longer than you’ve assumed."
"The only thing I was really concerned with was the effectiveness of my thesis statement...do you think you could take a look at that?" he asked, as he placed the piece of writing in front of me on the table. Leaning over me, he read the first paragraph to himself, following along with his finger. "Here it is!" he announced as his finger came to rest in the middle of his opening paragraph.
I looked down and slowly read, "And this idea is what I plan to support with the evidence contained in the following paragraphs of my essay." I sorted through the millions of thoughts that immediately wanted to come pouring out of my mouth, and fought the incredibly tempting desire to take over and correct. I was about to suggest he come in at a different time to work out a strategy for clarity with his thesis statement when a gentle digital melody began to resonate from the back pocket of his jeans. Grabbing his cell phone, he quickly collected his paper, and started to walk toward the door. "You know, I can tell you’re new...you weren’t much help...you should work on your tutoring technique, but thanks anyway!" he yelled as he stumbled out the door, and began to talk to the person who was beckoning him on his cellular device.
Just as I began to feel disheartened, the bitter taste of my pencil awoke me from the daydream to which I had drifted away. This subtle, subconscious vacation reminds me that in addition to my worries about lack of English intelligence, I am also afraid of the attitudes of others, and my ability to help them. The fact that I have not taken an English class in over a year is largely responsible for this, I believe. However, I have found great joy in helping others in different areas of my life, so I hope I can also find joy in helping others with something I enjoy to do so much.
posted by Anonymous at 6:36 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home