Response to Addy's Blog Post on Athletes

I admit that I take personal offense when my peers make comments about athletes and that they are dumb or were only admitted to a school because they are good at their sport. I have two brothers who are collegiate baseball players. They are also incredibly smart. My twin brother is a student at Tulane and my younger brother is a student at Northwestern University. Not only are they just smart but they can both write very well.


Athletes being athletes has nothing to do with their academic ability or their ability to write. My reaction to the authors comment that athletes are "ill-equipped to handle the rigors of college level writing assignments" was absolute and complete frustration. That is such a naive assertion. Doesn't the author think that their difficulty with writing is that they just don't have a lot of time to dedicate to revising, revising, and revising?! Playing a sport in college, especially D1, is like having a full time job. I struggle enough only working 5 hours a week. Can you imagine getting all of your work done, impeccably of course, if you were practicing for 3 hours a day and traveling on the weekends. I don't think so.


A second point needs to be made. A lot of times athletes are born and raised in poor neighborhoods with poor school systems. For many athletes the only reason they are able to attend college is because they can shoot a basket or tackle like no one else can. (Might just add that I don't think there is anything wrong with that. All students contribute to the school in some way). Anyways, coming back to my second point-- athletes are not "ill-equipped" because they are athletes. They may be ill-equipped because they went to schools that did not prepare them well enough for college. It has NOTHING to do with there athletic ability.


I wrote on my preference sheet that I was interested in being a Writing Consultant for athletes and you probably see why. I really think that athletes are scrutinized for being athletes. They need a consult  who is able to understand what they are going through and help them to do the best they can.

Advertisement for Writing Center: DIGITAL STORY

It just dawned on me! Of course there needs to be a digital story posted on the Writing Center website that shows the audience just what the Writing Center is all about! Not only would it be a great way to answer student's questions about the Writing Center, but it will also be neat to use a unique technology to do so. I envision that the digital story could just be the story or one students experience with the Writing Center. It would start with the student signed up for the consultation, where the Writing Center is located, and what types of things are accomplished during a consultation. We talked a fair amount this semester about how many students do not know what exactly goes on in the Writing Center. Some think that it is a proofreading service--but that's not true.  The story could address that students can come in at all different stages of the writing process and we will be able to help them. I just think that this is a good idea because t would make the Writing Center experience much less mysterious. Students would have this example to make them feel more confident and less unsure about what to expect. I imagine that some students are deterred from visiting simply because they do not know what to expect!

Who wants to make another digital story?!?!

let's get to know other consultants

I am really looking forward to our final presentation/celebration. I haven't talked to many people about what their FAQ's will entail or if there are even any other group projects. I have really enjoyed our class and I think that everyone has a lot of valuable insight to offer. It seems like it's going to be a good time to get together, tie up loose ends and have a good time. I was thinking about how much I am going to miss everyone in our class and having great discussions about writing and how to help others. It occurred to me that there should be an opportunity for Writing Consultants to all come together and talk about their experiences. Maybe once a semester all the Consultants should come to have some sort or facilitated conversation--food and drink included obviously. I just think that we will all really be able to learn a lot from each other. Plus it will be a way for all of the consultants to get to know each other. After all, most us probably only know our class and few other Writing Consultants.

What do you guys thinks? Should we propose this?

Almost a Consultant!

It is hard to imagine that the semester is coming to an end! Wow! Where has the time gone? Now that all of my classes are over, I realize that I am going to really miss them. Sure I may miss the topics and discussions, but I think that I am going to really miss the people. I have really enjoyed the community that we developed. I really enjoyed meeting all of you and getting to know you all.

Now that the end of the semester is here I am looking ahead at next semester. I will be taking some good and exciting classes, but most of all I am looking forward to being a Writing Consultant. I have absolutely grown a real liking towards consulting. As I have mentioned before, rather than work with the high schools students I have been working with my brother and sister who are both first years in college. I really love working with them and I think that I will enjoy working with people I don't know as well. I enjoy meeting new people so I think this job will really play to my strengths.

How are you all feeling? I wrote previously about being a bit nervous about not providing someone with the help they need, but I'm also excited. What are your thoughts?

Am I ready?

At the beginning of the semester I was a bit nervous about becoming a Writing Consultant. I remember my one and only experience with a writing consultant.  I wrote the first draft of my paper and brought it to the consultant. She gave me some advise and I took it! Part of the assignment was to hand in both our drafts and the final copy. After getting it back, my professor told me that my draft was better than the final product. Well so much for going to the Writing Consultant! (I should also note that this was at my previous school). I remember being really upset. I think that my worst fear is having that happen to a student that I work with. I don't think that is likely to happen though. After taking this class I feel that I have learned a vast knowledge about how to help different people with different needs. A really important part of a consultation is also asking the student what he or see is hoping to develop. That way you can help the student with what they know they need help with but also make casual suggestions. 

Do any of you have any fears about being a writing consultant? How about strengths? A strength that I think I have is my ability to get along well with people. I really like meeting new people and helping people!

Trouble of Writing Centers

I am thinking about my final project of promoting the Writing Center. Certainly I want to address that there is a Writing Center and that there are resources for all students. Then I thought-- well what about all of the concerns and questions that people have about the Writing Center. We addressed some of these concern in class-- Will my teacher grade me harder if I go to the Writing Center? Will the tutors actually help me? Will they proofread my paper for me? I decided to look up what other Writing Centers may have trouble with and came across the article "College Composition and the work of the Writing Center" by Nancy Maloney Grimm. She addressed some similar themes-- what is the role of the writing consultants, what is the faculty opinion of  the writing center, are the tutors really qualified to help me??

All of these thoughts have led to me to think that we need to address these questions in out advertisements. We need people to know that the Writing Consultants take a course to become Writing Consultants, that most (all??) faculty support the Writing Center, and that Writing Consultants can help at any point of the writing process.

Check out the article: http://www.jstor.org/stable/358600

How about a rap?

I was doing a little research on writing center promotion and I came across what seemed to me like a really cool poem. It was formatted like a poem, short lines and dashes dispersed throughout, but as I read this "poem" I realized that it was just a formatting issue and was really just an essay. Then it dawned on me-- someone should right a poem to advertise for the writing center. It should describe what the writing center is all about, where it is located, how to make an appointment, etc. Then I thought--poems are kind of boring, but raps are exciting! If I had any musical talent or the ability to rap I was make make my final project a rap about the writing center. So for anyone out there who might has knack for rap I think you should write one! I know there must be someone who hasn't written there project proposal yet so please use the idea!