Second shadowing experience

It's my second trip to the writing center and this time I felt a lot easier. Meagan had been there since 10. She seemed to be fully booked. After a few greetings, she showed me the draft for today's assignment. It was a business letter of rejection. Fascinating, I thought. How many other kinds of exotic writing I would see in the next few weeks? But that wasn't all. Meagan mentioned the writer being an international student from China. Such was exactly what I had been looking forward to. One of my primary motivation for becoming writing consultant was to assist international, especially Asian students with their writings.

It didn't seem like an easy task, however. As we looked at the draft together, we detected many organizational, mechanical and grammatical errors. At some points Meagan was confused about what the writer meant. I insisted that international students had a much harder time than native speakers when it came to writing. A few minutes later the writer came. We exchanged introduction and started working. This time we sat on the big table together so I had a much closer look at the conversation. An important question Meagan asked was "What do you think you need help on?". For a writing session that lasted only a few dozens minutes, prioritizing became instrumental to success. To be honest, the writer's answer was typical, but it bugged me a little bit: "I need help on grammar, first. Then on organization." As good writers we knew through training and instincts that although good grammar was required, it was far from vital to a piece of writing. Mentally we, or at least I, always ranked organization and flow as the most, and grammar the least important elements. However, I had been through enough English learning experience to sympathize with the writer. Nevertheless, Meagan focused more on helping her restructure the sentences than actual grammar, for it was the necessary thing to do. Some sentences had to be completely rewritten. As of the style itself, the letter really didn't sound right at first. Because of the inherently hurtful nature of a rejection letter, the writer was torn between getting her point across and maintaining politeness. Suddenly I had a thought, and this time I decided to voice it. I suggested that she looked at the rejection letters that she received during her college application process. I had absolutely no intention of evoking bad memories, but let's face it, even the brightest students in the world would have received a rejection letter during that arbitrary process. Also it would turn the rejection letters into something useful. Who would have guessed. Megan approved my suggestion and the writer noted it down.

In the end, Meagan asked if the writer felt comfortable rewriting her work. In addition to a yes, she also said that she loved Meagan due to her honesty, something she felt lacking in other writing consultants. I guess I am indeed lucky. Meagan was indeed one of the most senior writing consultants we had. Shadowing her will definitely bestow upon me invaluable working experience.

Self-reflection

This class has been the most engaging for me so far. Unlike any other class, we get to talk about college life and work, as well as how you get your work, namely writing, done in college. The reading is intriguing and raises many questions I want to ask myself. Yet I'm still concerned about how it is going to get me prepared for my imminent job as a writing consultant. I guess we are still at an early stage, but my first shadowing experience really makes me impatient to start working as soon as possible. I also wish I could have more chance to talk with Dr. Essid. Despite such zeal I still feel unprepared. As far as work is concerned, I think I'm keeping up with all the assignments. I have finished the interview with my teacher and am planning on writing the script soon. I'm not anxious about the digital story itself. It might seem intimidating, but I've done it before. Just like writing, once I put my back into it I know I will complete it long before I know it.

Reflect on the Saturday work with high school students.

Truth be told, I was mildly nervous about helping these high school students with their college application essays. I didn't even know if I wanted to remember my own college application process, simply that it was arduous, stressful but ultimately rewarding. Yet the feeling of going through it and that of completing it are like opposing extremes. Finally I decided to quit worrying and just go with it. Fortunately Addie was there to back me up. Some mutual support was always welcomed.

The high school student we worked with was of Hispanic origin. A soft and seemingly shy girl. From her stories I could tell that she was seriously stressed out and nervous about this whole process and all the works associated with it. That realization did nothing to lessen my fear of screwing up. I was afraid of saying something that would make her feel even more miserable. Given my critique nature, it might well have happened. We went on to ask her about her college essay. She wanted to write the college essay for VCU, describing her educational goals. She said she wanted to become an ESL teacher. Somehow I already felt a connection with her. Somehow I felt like I knew what I should ask. So we delved deeper into the issue. I asked her the reason for such wish and to recall her childhood. Being an ESL student, she had gone through all the hardships of growing up among foreign people who didn't speak her language. Thus she wanted to become an ESL teacher to help others like her going through the process more smoothly. A noble and admirable goal. It's like what I'm doing at the moment, helping others, especially Asian students with their English. In the end, she looked relieved and told us that she now knew what she wanted to talk about.

In the end, I felt so happy myself. Maybe we didn't really do much to actually help her with the essay, but at least I felt assured that I made her feel easier and motivated to take on this rigorous application process. To kindle hope and inspiration in people, that alone is something worth fighting for.

First shadowing experience

This was my first official trip to the writing center. I showed up on time with a mix of excitement and nervousness. I was scheduled to shadow writing consultant Megan Reilly. A senior majoring in Psychology, she turned out to be a very likable person. The office we were in had a warm and welcoming atmosphere, with a large round table in the middle and a small table for writer-consultant work. Fortunately she had an appointment at that time, and I could start shadowing right away.

The student writer was a freshman girl named Amanda, a lovely and innocent-looking Puerto Rican. Megan greeted her with a friendly and welcoming attitude, asking about her background and her experience so far with Richmond. I could tell that it made Amanda feel easier. She has sent Megan a complete first draft beforehand, making the rest of the session pretty straightforward. Although I didn't have a chance to look at the paper itself, I could tell from the conversation that it was an Art History paper about an apocalyptic engraving. Such a fascinating topic! Megan herself told Amanda that she was delighted to get to know this topic. As I half expected, Amanda's problem lied with the organization and thesis statement. She had an excellent body paragraph as Megan remarked, but only needed some synergy to synchronize it with the whole essay. A typical problem for competent first year students whose only disadvantage was some familiarity with college writing, I guessed. The rest of the time went on smoothly. One observation I made was that Megan took care to use the suggestive tense extensively, such as "I would shy off from this..." or "I suggest you do this...". This practice both conveyed a sense of respect to the writer and made them feel that she was really in control of her essay. She left satisfied. So did I.

After the session, I stayed and talked with Megan about the job. It turned out to be much more enjoyable than what all the regulations and ethic practices made it out to be. It certainly helped fuel my passion for the job. The only thing I felt uncomfortable with, however, was that sometimes when Megan gave a suggestion, I felt like I could really say something to add more weight into her voice, or to suggest something when she played safe and said "I don't know what to say here". I refrained from all of that, however, fearing that it would undermined her authority and the exclusivity of the writer-consultant relationship. I really don't know if I should take this to her next time.

Overall, it was a pleasurable experience. This job grows more interesting to me day by day. I get a chance to look at all different kinds of writing. I have a serious boss who is very easy going yet has a take-no-shit attitude when it comes to the job. Yes, Dr. Essid is definitely a figure to aspire to. Finally, I get to meet with all these people and a chance to improve my social and writing skill.

Who are we, o' fellows writing consultants?

Sometimes I still can't believe I've made it into this class.

Dr. Essid's visit on Monday was so inspiring and motivating, if not intimidating. After that I was firmly assured that I was now in a community of serious writers who weren't just successful in writing, but were also determined to help people improving their writing. Such is a cause I didn't know exist...until now.

English is my third language, and I've been learning it for a mere 3 years. Not too long for me to forget much, yet I can't recall being taught any thing about composition or writing, during the course of my education in Vietnam. All we learned were grammar, grammar and more grammar. For the Vietnamese educators, learning a new language was simply a matter of putting words together so that they "coincide" into something barely understandable. Even the "5 paragraphs essays" that most American college students take for granted is alien to me. Guess I am lucky then, for I won't need to forget it. Nevertheless, such was the extent of my ignorance of English composition.

When I was accepted into this school, I told people that I would major in Sociology and Psychology, neither of which was popular in my country. The responses I received were rolling eyes and mocking silence. All Asians who would go abroad will study Economics, Accounting, Business and the Natural Sciences. No one but a minuscule minority would even bother with the Social Sciences, for they considered those subjects, along with the skills associated with them-writing especially-,useless and impractical.

Last summer I came back to Vietnam and helped hosting the biggest study abroad conference there as a representative of UR. When asked about the college essay, I tried to stress the importance of "being yourself" in the essay, for I knew it was what got me here. Yet I felt like I was speaking a different language to my own people, though I was sure I haven't forgotten a bit of my Vietnamese. In return, the only concern of the applicants was "what should I put into the essays that would make them like me?". The essay drafts they sent me were a showpiece of grammar and vocabulary that looked like they had been pieced together from different sources, completely devoid of personality or the "writer's presence". I felt frustrated for I couldn't find any way to help them, but my frustration was only as half as theirs.

After a meticulous search through my data drives, I finally found the old drafts of my college application essay. The final draft still sounded familiar, but my first draft completely shocked me. I read it again and again while kept telling myself: "There's no way I wrote this piece of crap". How I changed from the student who wrote that crappy essay into a writing consultant trainee, I will never know.

That begs the question: how does one become a good writer? My people used to think that writing is like singing, some are born to do it and some will just fail no matter what. My intellectual journey at UR has shown me that almost everything, including good writers, can be made and don't have to be born. Nevertheless, convincing others so will be a challenging process, both to us as writing consultants and to the writers. Isn't that a noble job we are doing? Finding talents in people and telling them how to use it. It feels like an explorer who discovers hidden treasures, unearth them and sharing them with the world. Though none of that treasure is ours to keep, the sheer excitement of discovery and the joy of success are enough to carry us on.

That's why I'm taking this class. In the end, I look forward to the day when I can go back to my country and start uncovering treasures. I have confidence that they will not be in short supply.

Writing: an art or a trick?

I tend to view writing as an artistic process: it requires inspiration, ideas, patience, technique and talent. I can not write when I don't feel like writing. That attitude explains the occasional nights when I suddenly got an idea while spinning in bed. Then I would wake up, start typing and my essay would gradually be formed. I can not write within a restricted constraint of time and space either, hence my horribly low SAT writing score, even though no serious academic would take that as an indication of writing capability. In any way, I take writing seriously. Most importantly, I enjoy it.


Unlike other art forms though, writing is an inevitable part of life. I might never have to take up the paintbrush and paint a canvas, but even a hydraulic technician will at some points have to write a report. Within the context of liberal art education, writing becomes even more essential. That doesn't necessarily mean everyone would embrace it equally though. I have this friend who is an Economy major who scored a 4.0 GPA during the first semester. During the second semester, he took English 103 and his impressive GPA started going down. He took his essays to me every time, saying "I've got to get a B on this man". I helped him as best as I could, but the situation didn't get any more optimistic. As a last resort, I asked him to pay particular attention to what the teacher said during the lecture, her keywords and key terms, and to put them on his paper. Next time he returned with a B+. My happiness for him was cut short with his saying: "This is a neat trick. So it's all about what the teacher likes, huh?"

On another occasion, I read a friend's college application essay. Her boundless vocabulary made me sweat, and I almost had to have my dictionary next to me. While being deeply impressed by her word choice, I struggled to find her main argument. As I finished, I asked my friend what she wanted the reader to get out of this verbally opulent piece. She told me "I've done this so many times. You just need to overwhelm people with fancy words and you are in".

Another time I was talking to a successful lawyer. Among what she said, this captured the most of my attention: "the key to writing in this field is to make people don't understand what you are writing about". I did get a chance to look at her proposal, and it was true, I couldn't understand a thing. How this confusing practice fueled her career I would never know.

I personally could never get myself to do what my friend or the lawyer above has done. Even though, their practices deeply questioned my opinion on writing. Is it an art form to master and practice seriously, or is it simply a collection of techniques and tips that will help you get what you want?

It will take a much longer journey into the study of the writing process to answer my question.