I Don't Remember

It is so hard for me to "reflect" on what I have done once it's been done. I have no idea what I was thinking when I applied for the position as a writing center tutor. I just applied with the idea that they must not have known the truth about my inabilities. When I heard about the class we would be taking, I really debated on whether I wanted to be a writing tutor. I still remember the words "extensive writing" coming out of the writing center coordinator's mouth. As a former English major, I was tired of writing and ready to just get done with my schooling, but I knew somewhere deep inside I was still a writer. I knew I wanted to see people get more out of thier writing and to feel successful. It's so nice to get an "A" on a paper. Very satisfying. So when the job was offered to me I accepted it hoping nobody would somehow find out that I really suck at the whole writing thing and fire me on the spot.

Then I went to class. It was a scarey environment at first. We were expected to be something I wasn't sure I could be. (Whatever that was). If I were giving out advice for new class-takers of English 3840, it would be; brush up on EVERY ENGLISH (WRITING) THING YOU CAN GET YOUR BRAIN WRAPPED AROUND and get familiar with current and past United States politics. That is, for the class. Cause all the other stuff we learned about tutoring blanketed those two things. Like the layers of flakey dough in a Danish sweetroll, the actual applicable tutoring information leaves space for little else but that "else" it leaves is the sweetness of sucessful tutoring.

Not to worry, the tutoring is helpful (for the tutor and the tutee) and mostly enjoyable. ESL students are probably the most challenging (aside from the APA truckload that gets delivered to the Writing Center at about the busiest time of the semester) but only at first when you realize that you must throw all your previous tutoring techniques over your shoulder and whip out the vocabulary flashcards. ESL students are facinating because they are so diverse and their very presence speaks of culture that seems to want to express itself but is caught between two languages that show up together on the pages of thier papers because that is who they are right now while they are learning the Engish language.

The Writing Center is a pretty doggon good place to be. Even if you think you do a crappy session and you wonder if anyone noticed and thought the same thing. So many peoples lives are changed (in a good way) by the wonderful world of the Writing Center Friendly Neighborhood Heroes.