My first experience in the Writing Collaboratory occurred with the situation of being tutored for this post. While I was nervous to meet my tutor and didn’t want an awkward interaction, I found the thirty minutes to be pleasant and helpful. As I stepped through the doorway, I was immediately greeted by my tutor and made it a priority to introduce myself, diving right into the reason why I was there and showing them my paper. After talking over my finalized piece from last semester, I went into an assignment for my Composition class (which was unplanned but I’m glad I chose to show it). My tutor, Amanda, brought her own insight into the topic and allowed me to interact with the theme and point that I was making. Along with showing her my assignment (which was a first draft) I shared with her my presentation for this class. With my nerves being relieved when she walked me through my handouts, explaining that I can think about writing the handouts for an audience of my friends instead of hundreds of strangers. Being told that it’s okay to make mistakes, that not everything has to be perfect, boosted my enthusiasm for the piece. After being frustrated with myself, knowing that my first draft has to be “perfect”, it helps to hear someone say that I don’t need to have everything in order.
After our session with the writing, it was comforting to talk with another student about the school, education and classes. This part of the session humanized the tutor for me, bringing up an aspect that I will add to my own tutoring: get to know, and be comfortable, with your student in your allowed time. All of these aspects that I have experienced in my session will lead me to become a better tutor and writer. Having the opportunity to experience the Collaboratory and having small conversations with the tutors have made me realize how open they are to helping students. Even the atmosphere itself is cozy and laid back. You realize that the tutor is there to actually help you; they aren’t rushing for the appointment to be over or speaking over the student. Their basic requirement is for the student to have more confidence in themselves than they had before they walked through those doors. Earning the trust with the student you are tutoring can be hard, especially if you’re talking about their writing that involves a topic they’re not interested in. Bringing in topics that the student is excited about helps establish a strong connection between the tutor and tutee.
