Writers' Bloc: Success Stories

As the fall semester of 2008 begins, I find myself eagerly awaiting the first students to arrive in The Writing Center. Each year, we have a few success stories that really stand out, and last year was no exception. Allow me to share with you the stories of Cathy, José, and Shea.

Cathy was a returning student who had not been in school for a few years. Rather than go to college right after high school, Cathy joined the workforce and worked in a series of clerical jobs that allowed her to move forward in her career. However, at a certain point, she realized that without a college degree, her options might be limited, and she secretly wanted to become a lawyer. Thus, although she was a bit apprehensive at first, she enrolled as a full-time student, determined to take advantage of all the resources available to her.

One of the first places she visited on campus was The Writing Center. On the first day of classes, her Composition I teacher had told Cathy about The Writing Center, so she walked up to the second floor of the Marvin Library to check it out. “I’ve always been comfortable with numbers and spread sheets,” she stated when she arrived, “but I’ve never felt comfortable with commas or with writing in general.” Thus, during the next few weeks, she studied various handouts and punctuation worksheets, and she also visited every time she had a writing assignment: to ask questions about the assignment, to brainstorm and outline her ideas, and to receive constructive criticism on her first draft. By the time the fall semester ended, Cathy’s teacher recommended that Cathy work as a peer tutor, so she could share her new expertise and her success with other students.

Another student who visited The Writing Center during the first few weeks of the semester was José. José was fresh out of high school and eager to begin studying to become a physical education teacher. He actually felt pretty comfortable with his writing until his teacher returned José’s first essay with the following notation: “José, you have a major problem with point of view. Please visit The Writing Center and ask for help.”

“What is point of view anyway?” José asked when he arrived, “and why is it such a big deal?” Naturally, I explained that point of view is, basically, the way a story is told, and that three major options exist: the first-person point of view uses pronouns such as “I” and “We” to tell stories of personal experience (“I’ll never forget my first day of college”); the second-person point of view uses pronouns such as “You” and “Your” to teach someone how to do something (“Here’s how you can survive your first day of college”); and the third-person point of view uses pronouns such as “He, She, It,” and “They” to write objectively about others (“Studies show that when students walk on a college campus for the first time, they can be easily overwhelmed and intimidated”).

I also explained to José that his point of view would be determined by the assignment itself and by the instructor’s expectations regarding that assignment, and that José’s point of view needed to be consistent throughout the assignment. Unlike Cathy, once José mastered that particular problem, he didn’t visit The Writing Center quite as often himself, but he did refer lots of his friends to us.

Finally, I also recall Shea who came to us in a panic about halfway through the semester. “I don’t have a clue about this whole term-paper thing,” he said when he arrived. “I’ve never written one before.” Within ten minutes, Shea was able to relax because I explained to him how the term-paper assignment can be broken down into a series of smaller steps, and because I reassured him that he still had plenty of time to complete each step.

Anxious to succeed, Shea returned to The Writing Center regularly to complete each of the following steps: choosing a subject, gathering resources on that subject, developing a strong thesis, organizing his ideas, writing his first draft, asking for feedback, revising his work, and documenting his sources. Shea actually finished his paper a week before it was due, and he returned for a visit at the end of the semester to report that he had received an A for his work. Naturally, we both felt great about his progress and his accomplishment.

Are Cathy, José, and Shea real HVCC students? Yes and no. Yes, we see students like them in The Writing Center every semester, but their names have been changed, and their quotations have been altered somewhat because, quite honestly, I don’t remember exactly what they said when they first visited. So what’s the point? The point of these stories is to demonstrate that those of us who work in The Writing Center are eager and willing to help all students with their writing concerns. Thus, if you have any questions about your writing assignments, or if you would like some general feedback on your writing, please feel free to visit The Writing Center.

The Writing Center (WC) is located on the upper level of the Marvin Library, and you can go to the Writing Center for individual help during any stage of the writing process.

Copyright 2008 © by Jim LaBate at Hudson Valley Community College.