During a college math class, I once took a test where I learned something. Yes, I learned something I while taking a test. The test asked me to explain the difference between two terms- it was subtle, but I did know the difference. The thing is, I hadn’t realized that subtle difference until the question
Wit and Wisdom Celebrating a Semester’s End
When a semester begins and academic energy runs high, we in the writing center sign up to lend something insightful to our humble blog archives. Invariably, I sign up for a late-semester date anticipating by then I’ll have something so original—nay, profound—splashing in the mental bucket, it will forever alter the lives of those who
How Do You Play The Game?
“Volleyball practice ends at seven tonight, ” I yelled as I left for school in the morning. “I’ll be there,” would be my Mom’s reply. This exchange took place every morning, with a few alterations of time and sport. As life wound its way forward, I found the same words echoing through my own home,
Newbies and Veterans: We All Start Somewhere
I have been a tutor here at the Marian E. Wright writing center since the winter of 2014. My time here has been a learning experience and a growing experience. When I started I remember myself being spirited and motivated, however I was nervous and unsure of myself. With the guidance of many great colleagues,
Halloween and the Writing Center
Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. The excitement of creating a costume, decorating the yard, carving the pumpkins, and coming up with spooky treats is just the most fun. As a child we would each get a pumpkin and Mom would help us carve it. She always cut a hole in
Know Thy Self: altering your writing process so you can get the job done
By the time I got to my senior year in college, I was so sick of learning about the writing process. Pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading. All right, all right, I get it. Do we really need to go over this again? One thing that we have to pick up from all this repetition is
Writing as Therapy
Life is not easy; not that I really have to tell any of you that. Things aren’t always good and sometimes we have to avoid them to keep ourselves safe. In the event that things get out of control, it becomes categorized as an interference on life and sometimes a mental illness. Treatments often include
Never Wrong: Or How to Listen to Your Reader
A few semesters ago I took a poetry writing class. For one poem, I was trying something different with my line lengths and rhythm. The teacher commented on the first draft that the rhythm was not working, and that I should try to break the lines up more. Breaking the lines up more was exactly
Best job on campus!
Shhh. Don’t tell anyone… but I have the most fun job on campus. Why is it the most fun job on campus, you ask? Because I get to meet all different kinds of people from all different kinds of places who are studying all different kinds of subjects, and writing about all different kinds of
Using Writing Assignments to Your Benefit
Sometimes, there’s no way around it. You have to write a summary or analysis of a reading handed to you by your professor. Yep. Gotta write it. Go on. Just do it and think about how you are sharpening your skills. Sometimes though, assignments give you some choice. Assignments can be broad prompts that make