{"id":875,"date":"2020-01-08T13:47:03","date_gmt":"2020-01-08T13:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/?p=875"},"modified":"2021-11-01T19:23:37","modified_gmt":"2021-11-01T19:23:37","slug":"tea-tutoring-and-skeletons-a-tutors-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/2020\/01\/08\/tea-tutoring-and-skeletons-a-tutors-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Tea, Tutoring, and Skeletons: A Tutor\u2019s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Luther
Luther in the Writing Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Usually, you\u2019ll find Luther Houle in the Writing Center\nsipping tea out of his favorite mug, a coffee cup with a zen-happy pig on the\nfront. He received it last year as a new tutor award. Luther\u2019s a low-key, happy\nguy and students love him. He\u2019s kind, patient, and nurturing. It\u2019s not uncommon\nto hear him ask if someone needs a cup of tea. He adds, \u201cI like to drink tea,\nand I like to offer it to help others feel more comfortable. Puts them at\nease.\u201d This represents Luther\u2019s style well. He\u2019s the kind of tutor that wants\npeople to see that the writing center is a safe, friendly environment to share\none\u2019s writing and just spend time.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of my most memorable moments was my first time in the\nWriting Center. Jordan, a former tutor, asked me if I wanted to stop by the\nwriting center with him. He showed me around. It was really cool because he\nmade it feel like a comfortable place to be. For someone like me, the\nUniversity doesn\u2019t always have a lot of comfortable places to sit, relax, and\nfeel at home, but I definitely feel at home in the Writing Center. Heck, there\nare even skeletons! Grimm and Lefty which I love. I like Lefty better, but\ndon\u2019t tell Grimm\u201d he snickers. Luther was also the voice of Lefty for a\nHalloween video we did this semester. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked Luther what he\u2019s gained during his time as tutor. He\nsaid, \u201cWell, I realized the writing center is a place for all writers, those\nwho might be struggling and those that are doing great and getting A\u2019s. The\nWriting Center is about becoming a better writer, regardless of where one is in\ntheir writing.\u201d I asked him how the Writing Center does that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cListening. The first piece of advice I would give any new\ntutor is to be comfortable with silence. Sometimes, students\/writers just need\ntime to think. Slow down. Don\u2019t say something unless you think it\u2019ll really\nhelp the student think about their own writing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about writers? \u201cWell, I\u2019d like them to know it\u2019s a\ngreat place to hang out, get feedback on their work, and feel comfortable\nworking out ideas. Sometimes the best place to start is with the assignment\nsheet. It helps you figure out where you\u2019re going and identify questions you\nmight have. I\u2019m happy to listen to someone vent about their frustrations, but\nit\u2019s even better when I can help someone find the right questions to ask of\nthemselves or their instructor.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love being a tutor and even though I\u2019ve graduated and I\u2019m joining the Peace Corps to teach English, I wouldn\u2019t have had the confidence or courage to do it if I hadn\u2019t been a tutor. I got into tutoring after I took a business communication class. The instructor, who I later found out was the director of the Writing Center, said, \u2018I think you might be a good fit as a tutor,\u2019 so I took the class. I\u2019ve gained so much from my time there. I\u2019ve gained the tools I need to be able to take a leap like joining the Peace Corps. I always wanted to leave home and try something new, but being a tutor has really given me the courage to do that. I also realized I\u2019m really good at this and it\u2019s something I want to do. Being a tutor has illuminated my own interests to me! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I always looked forward to the days when I got to go to the writing center and tutor. It\u2019s the only job that I wish I could keep, but I look forward to opportunities to do more of it in the future.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luther Houle has not only been a writing tutor, but also a writer and reporter for East Village Magazine. He graduated last April 2019 with an English degree and a specialization in writing. Last fall was his last semester at the university as his adventure takes a new twist. He\u2019s joining the Peace Corp and going to Nepal to teach English to 5th<\/sup>-8th<\/sup> grade students. We are all going to miss Luther as he moves on to his new adventures, but we are so proud and excited for him, too. Whether as a tutor, friend, or voice of Lefty, Luther has definitely animated so much of our center. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Usually, you\u2019ll find Luther Houle in the Writing Center sipping tea out of his favorite mug, a coffee cup with a zen-happy pig on the front. He received it last year as a new tutor award. Luther\u2019s a low-key, happy guy and students love him. He\u2019s kind, patient, and nurturing. It\u2019s not uncommon to hear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":877,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875\/revisions\/877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}