Written by Kathleen Irwin
How long have we been in self-isolation? Too long, if you ask me. So long that I’ve started to reflect on my time working in a writing center. I started my graduate career in a writing center and now I’m back after teaching for two or so years while working on my doctorate. There are so many things the writing center has done for me, and it’s changed me in so many ways. I honestly believe that if I didn’t start out working in a writing center, I don’t know if I would’ve decided to get my PhD.
Not all writing centers are the same. Every single one is unique with its own school of thought, work dynamic, and atmosphere. That’s one of the perks of having worked in more than one. Both were incredibly different from each other, and yet similar in many ways as well. My first experience as a writing center tutor was hectic, hurried, and theoretically and pedagogically engaging. I learned about the Socratic method, indirect tutoring, and I was introduced to the Writing Center Journal and Praxis, journals I still gobble up when a new issue comes out.
My identity as a tutor began to take form there; I was a helper, a guide, not a teacher. And yet my face to face sessions (the only kind we had) helped shape my identity as an instructor and the importance of communication with one’s students. If you are in graduate school and you have the opportunity, I highly suggest working at a writing center. For some reason I have met people in graduate school who scoff at the idea of working at a writing center and prefer being a GTA or research assistant. While both of those are valuable, working at a writing center was integral to my success in grad school. I learned to be a better tutor, communicator, and instructor.
That being said, my time as an instructor has been incredibly valuable to my second and most recent tenure at the TWU Write Site. I became more confident about myself and my abilities when I became a teacher here at TWU. I was able to create a teaching persona that helped me to (metaphorically) stand tall, be confident in my abilities, and assure students that I knew what I was doing. I also learned to project my voice as a teacher and use multimodal composition strategies and integrate them into my tutoring style. I loved that I was able to merge multimodal composition, free writing and writing center theory into both my tutoring and instructing styles.
Working at the TWU Write Site has given me the opportunity to see past students of mine flourish and grow as tutors. I currently work with two former students of mine. It’s glorious, seeing them tutor with a passion and do such a spectacular job of being tutors. It reassures me, as their former instructor, that I taught them well. As their now co-worker and friend, I get to see them come up with brilliant ideas and do things I would never have been able to do at their age. Before our self-isolation and quarantine, I got to go into work and experience a camaraderie with every single tutor at the Write Site.
Now that we all work online, I get to witness everyone of them helping each other out, lifting others up, and adapting our technological situation to the fullest in our online appointments. We check in with one another, call and text each other off duty, and make jokes about toilet paper. Writing Centers don’t just teach us valuable lessons about pedagogy or theory but build lasting friendships in times of crisis – something I’m sure everyone needs right now.
TWU Write Site 