Well, I start consulting next week. That may not seem like a big deal to some of you who've been working in the WC/library and such, but it's big to me, ha ha. I really do wish I had more time in the evening so I could at least drop by and witness the goings-on, but... alas. I also feel guilty for not being able to help out with Writing Center Week, but this is Hell Week for my show ("I Hate Hamlet", opening this Friday), so I've got 16-hour days for the next week. I think that's a good enough excuse, ha ha. But still... yeah.
Anyway, next week should be fun. I'm not sure if I'll be totally perfect the first time, but the sessions I've assisted with (more on that later) went pretty smoothly. I really don't know what to expect for the first week, though. As of right now I don't have any appointments (no surprise there), but I have a feeling I'll be plenty busy. Next week is Week 6 of the semester, so we've probably got a lot of WRA papers due, since it's about 1/3 of the way through. Nothing too difficult, I should think, but please, receptionists, don't stick me with any doctoral theses just yet.
I guess working on a pattern is as good a tactic as any right now. "Hi, how are you..." Nah. Not really me. "What's up? I'm Ryan." *Handshake*. Take it from there. No problem, right? Ask them what they're working on, how they want to work on it, ask for assignment sheet, have them read it aloud, yuh-huh, yuh-huh. I've seen it all before. I guess I'm not really worried about the basics, just if I come off as competent or not. I mean, I think I do. Right? RIGHT?
Anyway... since I'm here (at the computer; I'm not really on your screen, unless you've been Facebook-stalking me. I'm looking at you, Kassidy), I suppose recounting this week's sessions should work for wrapping this up. Here are my typed-up responses for this week:
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This week:
Two formal observations, one third-party (2/4), one assisting (2/6), and a miscellaneous peer review session.
(2/4): Today [Monday] I sat down with UWC Laura to observe an in-progress IAH 202 paper. The client (a female freshman) voiced her concerns over whether or not her rough draft adequately addressed the assignment. Her paper was a reflection on a European "age-of-sail/rise of mercantilism" movie her class watched. Good for me. I love this period of history, but I didn't want to come off as a snobby know-it-all (usually impossible), so I kept my mouth shut (most of the time). Laura had the client read her paper aloud (catching myriad grammatical blips along the way) and didn't speak unless spoken to. As vocal and impassioned as I can be, I can appreciate her style here, especially when the client is as engaged in her paper as was this young woman. Laura didn't directly question her voice or style unless the sentence was wont for sense, and never once did she lift a pen or pencil in correction (though she is fond of twirling them). This was a standard enough session, with nothing earth-shattering happening. Which, I guess is a good thing, but I almost wish something would go wrong one of these days, just so I could see what happens.
(2/6): Today was an interesting day. I helped Laura out with a session, not that she needed it, ha ha. Today's client was a regular, I'm told, a Latina/Chicana (anybody for sure know the difference?) with a paper on microbiology telomerase something something. I'm glad she knew what she was talking about, she just needed help putting her sentences together in English. This was fortunate for me, knowing some Spanish, to be able to pick up on the sentence structures she applied from Spanish to English. For the most part, they're pretty compatible, pero es desafortunado cuando un papel no parece profesional porque no se sabe hacer frases correctos en ingles. Don't know how to make the special characters. So, we were able to help her recognize a few of the mistakes she was making repeatedly, and she was able to correct much if it on her own. Whether or not her science lingo was correct remains to be seen, but I have a pretty good feeling about it. Mostly because I don't know how else to feel about it. About a half an hour in, Laura was able to let the client take over almost completely, excepting a few instances where she had some questions on order and clarification. Anyway, for what it's worth, the client was very easy to work with, and it was hard not to bust into Spanish (Laura only speaks French, which would not have availed her, ha ha). Que fortunado para mi that this client came in today.
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Anyway, that's pretty much it. My fingers are tired. Vaya con Dios!
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