What stands out the most to me so far in my work as a tutor is that kids really do come in at varying points in the writing process. Not only that, but some simply want a quiet place to work and may not even need help. Another thing that stands out to me is the kind of questions kids ask, mainly the “how” question: “How can I say this?” “How can I make this say what I want it to say?” These kinds of questions challenge me to think creatively as I was in their shoes not too long ago myself with these questions. However, something along those same lines that ends up being frustrating is when the students don’t want to think for themselves. I can give them questions and try to guide their thinking, but I don’t want to think for them. That presents another challenge, helping them do the work without doing the work for them. Service-learning has opened my eyes to how fortunate I am to have the chance to work with these high school students. I was an academic in high school and I’m happy to pass knowledge on to those behind me. I hope in the future I can better engineer a way to get these students thinking critically for themselves and relying on themselves for answers rather than others.

Service-learning has revealed assumptions I had about these high school students that they would be nearly at the same level as me with regards to writing. I now realize that over the course of my four years in high school my writing improved without me even realizing it and I know these pupils will do the same. It may be helpful to me in the future to ask my students what grade they are in so I can get a better feel for their writing skills thus far.

The writing center is an elegant, cosy place meant to foster comfort and creativity. The leather chairs and long tables make excellent work stations for one-on-one meetings. The room is nicely decorated with Cougar pride items, equipped with its own Cougar merchandise. There is a small laptop where students can fill out surveys after their appointments which will provide feedback for changes in the center. 

 I have not gotten a chance to coach yet, but I am excited to begin helping students soon. Having an extra pair of eyes is always beneficial when undertaking the writing process. I am sure when I start helping students with their writing that I will become much more aware of habits that I have when I write. I hope in turn they will learn from me whether we are tackling organization of the paper, the development of ideas, transitions between paragraphs, reducing wordiness, explaining grammar rules, generating outlines, brainstorming, the works!

I am also looking forward to improving the ways I communicate with people and learning how to best be helpful in this writing endeavor. I hope to help dissolve any stigmas around writing or having aid with writing. I really like UNC-Asheville’s motto for our writing center which employs people to come to the writing center not because they cannot write, but because they do. Even the greatest writers had editors. Even Thomas Jefferson, the famed writer of our Constitution had editors. He hated them, but he absolutely had them. It can be discouraging to have your paper marked up, but I do not want it to stay discouraging. I want my methods of helping writers to be nothing but encouraging.

 I hope this service learning gives me confidence to do more service learning in the future. I hope to make a difference in the way students at Asheville High view writing by providing them a comfortable space and reassurance that writing is hard but they can do it!