Session as Client and Primary Consultant

Session as Client #2
This was a good session for me because it wasn't my typical writing. The majority of my writing for college, and easily the majority of writing for other students, is research papers. Papers that have a thesis, sometimes a counter-argument, and supports for that thesis. For this paper, on the other hand, my task was simply to analyze a book for my history class and write a paper that acted essentially as a book review.

I am confident in my writing ability, but when I am given a task that diverges from what I'm typically used to, it does shake me up just a little bit. I am so used to writing research papers that I know exactly how to present what I am trying to say, and so generally I do not feel that I need proof-reading. This time, on the other hand, I was writing a book review and having another set of eyes was essential to making certain that what I was saying was getting through.

Primary Consultant #1
My first session actually came unexpectedly my second day working at the writing center. It was a bit scary at first, I must admit, but I quickly got the hang of it. I think it was ultimately a good thing that I hit the ground running. This writer, as I've noticed many have come to do, explained in the beginning that he was "not a very good writer." That, however, was not true, and it was one of the more satisfying experiences I've had as a writing consultant.

He displayed what many people seem to, a deep fear of the thesis. He didn't know what to put for his thesis, but upon reading his paper it was not difficult to figure one out. The point he was arguing was clear, and he all of the support for it, he just didn't know quite what he was arguing or how to put it into words. His thesis was already there, he just needed to extract it from his paper. He told me he'd buy me a candy bar if he got a 4.0, he never came back but I hope it's because he forgot.

Primary Consultant #2
ESL. I admit when I signed up for the writing center, I did not anticipate ESL students being so prominent. ESL, such a small acronym but one that strikes so much fear into the hearts of writing consultant. This was a two hour session, whic are always stressful, but ultimately I think I helped this particular student.

The problem with this was that, at first, I could not exactly figure out what the ultimate point of the paper was. That is, what the assignment was. She had an assignment, and she had a paper, the question was whether or not the paper fulfilled the assignment. The paper was clear and well written, which is unusual for ESL students, pretty good grammar. Unfortunately it was difficult to help her because she couldn't quite articulate what the assignment was, even though that was what she wanted help with. Ultimately, however, I think I helped her.