By Hannah Hecht–As midterms approach, professors begin to assign more and more lab reports, personal statements, literary analyses, and history essays. One of the most important steps in the writing process is often one of the most often overlooked: obtaining a second opinion.
That’s where the Morningside College Writing Center comes in. Located on the second floor of the Learning Center, the Writing Center has held 222 appointments with 126 different students since the beginning of the semester.
However, many students around campus don’t understand exactly what the Writing Center does or how it works. In order to help fix that, here are six common misconceptions about our friendly neighborhood Writing Center; each one is followed by a response from Director of the Writing Center David Elder or student consultant Cameron Oakley.
Misconception #1: “Someone is going to machete my paper with a red pen until it’s a bloody, shredded mass crying out for help.”
“People think that if they come to the Writing Center, someone is going to rip your paper to shreds until you feel bad about it,” says Elder, “That’s really not what we do; we help people with their writing. We don’t just point out places where people are wrong.”
Instead, Elder says, writing consultants help people better fit the conventions of the genre in which they are writing, so that they can come away with a better understanding of writing.
Oakley adds, “Part of being a consultant is being tactful. Having someone tear up your ideas and writing doesn’t help anyone.”
Misconception #2: “The Writing Center is a place for bad writers.”
“The writing center is for everyone,” says Oakley. “Many Writing Center tutors, including myself and [Elder], bring work into the Writing Center.” She says it is meant to provide a second pair of eyes to see things that the writer may not be able to see.
Misconception #3: “I have to finish my entire 10 page paper before I can bring it in to the Writing Center.”
“A misconception could be that you have to have anything written at all,” says Elder, “You really don’t.”
Consultants at the Writing Center will be more than happy to assist with brainstorming, outlining, or just bouncing ideas around.
“After you’ve already written your paper, you’re going to be pretty married to your ideas,” he adds, “Then it’s going to be hard to cut something you’re written already.”
Misconception #4: “I can just drop my paper off at the Writing Center and they’ll edit it for me.”
Oakley thinks that a lot of times, students come into the Writing Center expecting to have someone fix all of the problems, “especially grammar and punctuation.”
“We are consultants,” she says. “We are here to consult, share ideas with you, and give personal advice. We are not an editing service.”
Elder agrees. “We will help you with grammar; we will not do it for you,” says Elder. “You will come away with a better understanding of grammar, but we will not just fix everything in your paper for you. It’s a two-way street and you will help us fix the grammar in your paper.”
Misconception #5: “If I work with a faculty or staff member, I will get better help than if I work with a student.”
“I think that is patently false. Actually, I can see the student consultants maybe having a better grasp on how to help other students with their papers because [student consultants] have been in the classes.”
Elder thinks that, while the staff and faculty members know how to look at a paper from a teacher’s perspective, lots of times peer help can be equally or even more beneficial.
Misconception #6: “I can’t go to the Writing Center because I don’t have an appointment.”
Walk-ins are always welcome at the Writing Center. However, sometimes, especially around finals, midterms, and First Year Seminar paper due dates, the Writing Center may be too busy to accommodate walk-ins.
To schedule an appointment, students simply go to the Morningside Portal page, click on “Need a Tutor?” and go to “Writing Help.” There, students can search appointment times by either time or writing consultant and schedule their appointment in a quick and easy way.
Both Elder and Oakley agree that a visit to the Writing Center is an important step of the writing process and that students should not be intimidated.
“I would tell anyone who is apprehensive about their first visit that they have nothing to lose,” says Oakley, “[A writing consultation] can only help. Plus, it’s a great time for you to look over your paper again. We would love to have everyone stop by for a consultation.”
The Writing Center is open from 9 am to 9 pm Mon. – Thurs. and 9 am to 5 pm on Friday. Students interested in setting up an appointment can to so here.
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