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
Sharing is Caring: the writing center as a resource for everyone
Before coming back to the MEW Writing Center at UM-Flint, I worked at a writing center at a community college. One day when it was a little slow, I struck up a conversation with another writing tutor. I asked him if he had used the writing center recently. “Oh no,” he said right away. “I’m
The Hierarchy of the Writing Center and the Two Way Street of Learning
Since my time in grade school, high school, and even now in college I have been well aware of the system of hierarchy embedded within the education system and in all of academia. As I am presently experiencing the role of a writing tutor I have recently begun to question the hierarchy system in academia
An Apology (or two)
As I sit here marveling at my latest compositional masterpiece, I find myself filled with self-doubt. Does the essay fulfill the requirements of the task assigned to me? If it does not, I humbly apologize. Speaking of apologies, this apology reminds me of several other actions in my life for which I probably
A Public Service Announcement
A recent poll of 314 million Americans by the Institute for Impracticable Statistical Studies has found that the average person has one testicle and one breast. Knowing that I am above average in one of those categories has given me the confidence to write a blog post in which I admit my struggles
Grandma Knowknows Grammar No-nos
Eat Your Peas and Carrots and Don’t Split Your Infinitives. Dissociative Infinitive Disorder (a.k.a. split infinitive disease) is a linguistic ailment associated with early grammar trauma and characterized by adverbial intrusion of the full infinitive. What Is Dissociative Infinitive Disorder? Most of us have experienced mild cases of infinitive dissociation, but to fully understand split
Stepping Away and the 3AM Wake-Up Call
Writing is a stop-and-start process for me. Yeah, groundbreaking stuff here folks. This is true for most writers I talk to, but I’ve found my own stops-and-starts can be identified by category, or conspirator. I’ll explain. Some are interruptions. I’m a husband and father of three, so even if I’m barricaded in my office with