HOLY CRAP!
Which type of papers are the hardest for me to tutor? The hardest papers to tutor are the papers that make me think HOLY CRAP, as I start reading them. Holy crap is the dumb-founded response I think or say in any situation. This reaction pertains to my tutoring experience because at this stage in the game, regardless of the paper’s quality, my response is ALWAYS the same… HOLY CRAP!
I guess this means I am not experienced enough to appreciate reading any paper, let alone a well written one. After just a week of tutoring I have had the opportunity to read some very good papers. These papers have been easy to read, the students have been easy to talk with, yet I still haven’t been able to shake off my dumb-founded internal response to tutoring. Likewise, while papers having a few more problems haven’t been as easy to read, these students have been just as easy to talk to. So why do I still feel this way? Why do I still have this initial response in every session? Could it be that no matter how the paper is written, tutoring is just plain challenging?
In a way, I am pretty sure this challenge will become my favorite part of tutoring. Someday soon, I hope to be excited by the anticipation of the unknown, which in this case will be reading several papers written on unimaginable topics. When at last the challenge of my task yields excitement, I hope to finally dump my dumb-founded “holy crap” response. For now, until I get a better bearing on tutoring, reading over routine, small and simple writing assignments sounds great to me!
I just really realized this week that a lot of people struggle with writing. Seriously. Why it took me so long to understand this, I may never know. I mean this very sincerely and I really feel bad because I was so unaware. My mom compared my epiphany to the feeling a rich person has after volunteering at a homeless shelter. I don’t know why I have never had a challenge putting words to paper, while some see writing as an impossible task. I do know, however, that I want to help the students who come to the writing center, regardless of the state of their paper. I want to be happy reading any type of paper that sits in front of me. I want to get past the shock or fear or whatever it is, and help students achieve their intended purpose through their writing.
I guess this means I am not experienced enough to appreciate reading any paper, let alone a well written one. After just a week of tutoring I have had the opportunity to read some very good papers. These papers have been easy to read, the students have been easy to talk with, yet I still haven’t been able to shake off my dumb-founded internal response to tutoring. Likewise, while papers having a few more problems haven’t been as easy to read, these students have been just as easy to talk to. So why do I still feel this way? Why do I still have this initial response in every session? Could it be that no matter how the paper is written, tutoring is just plain challenging?
In a way, I am pretty sure this challenge will become my favorite part of tutoring. Someday soon, I hope to be excited by the anticipation of the unknown, which in this case will be reading several papers written on unimaginable topics. When at last the challenge of my task yields excitement, I hope to finally dump my dumb-founded “holy crap” response. For now, until I get a better bearing on tutoring, reading over routine, small and simple writing assignments sounds great to me!
I just really realized this week that a lot of people struggle with writing. Seriously. Why it took me so long to understand this, I may never know. I mean this very sincerely and I really feel bad because I was so unaware. My mom compared my epiphany to the feeling a rich person has after volunteering at a homeless shelter. I don’t know why I have never had a challenge putting words to paper, while some see writing as an impossible task. I do know, however, that I want to help the students who come to the writing center, regardless of the state of their paper. I want to be happy reading any type of paper that sits in front of me. I want to get past the shock or fear or whatever it is, and help students achieve their intended purpose through their writing.
posted by Danae at 12:08 PM
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