From Jeannette Burkle: The Center for Writing and Speaking is probably the best resource Agnes Scott College has to offer its students. I remember coming in as a first year, worried about adjusting to college life and writing. As an English-Creative Writing Major, writing was always on my mind. I decided to check out the center and see what they had to offer. My first memory of the Writing Center is the white cotton candy hair of Professor Cozzens during our first meeting. The other details are kind of a blur now. I had met her at the Gala, where I was caught in the storm of sweet frosting and pretty glittering prizes. Before I knew it, one of the smiling tutors had registered me to their website and I was caught in their sticky web. I learned an important rule of college: if you want people to come to an event, offer food. Luckily, the CWS was a great web to be caught in. I filled out a partner’s application, hoping to improve my grammar (I had been called the comma slayer with all the sentences I’d mercilessly spliced). When I showed up to my first appointment, I had more of an opportunity to examine the space. Warm and friendly like the rest of the campus, the Writing Center had a homey feeling to it. My partner found me and I sat with her at one of the small tables. She had a bright smile to show her excitement and started asking what I wanted to improve in my writing. My bodily tension eased and I explained to her that–like every other book nerd–I had the fantasy of being a novelist. I continued on, promising that as a Creative Writing Major, I would have many essays for her in the future. She was very enthusiastic and supportive, excited to read what I was going to bring. I left the Center looking forward to the next time I would be in. I didn’t know this at the time, but she was just as nervous as I was. Every week I came in, sometimes bringing my scholarly pieces, sometimes my creative pieces, and our meetings became more than a habit. It became something that I looked forward to. My tutoring partner had a lot of information regarding our shared major, the environment of Agnes Scott, and life in general. We built a friendship of collaboration and mutual interest. She taught me that my words matter and that there were people in the world that were interested in hearing what I had to say. She taught me that practice makes perfect was more than something to put on cat posters. But most importantly she taught me that tutors are just like any student and that it was okay to ask for help. It was her first year tutoring and with her skill you would not have ever known it. The only reason I know it, is because now I’m sitting where she sat. I decided to become a tutor because I thought that I could help and inspire people the way she helped and inspired me. Gaining the skills to reach this level was no walk in the park, but here I am. Though the center is a new building and went from homey lounge to industrial chic and Cozzens went on a magical adventure to Ireland, the soul of the CWS is still here. To those of you entering the partners program, get excited, because you’re about to be caught in that sticky sweet web of inspiration and friendship. It doesn’t matter if you are good at writing, if you are an English major, or even if you hate reading. What matters is while you are in the partners program—no matter what drives your passion—some great tutor with a big smile is going to help you pursue them.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 19:20:20 +0000
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