As an employee of the CLU Writing Center, some people assume that I am a writing expert. Funnily enough, before I started working here, I kind of thought I was too. I figured this job would be a great opportunity for me to help other people and to offer my writing skills and knowledge to the Cal Lu community.
Well, I’m definitely not an expert. And it turns out that the Cal Lu writing community had just as much to offer to me as I thought I had to offer it! In my time at the Writing Center, I’ve done as much learning as I’ve done teaching.
I only wish I had discovered it sooner.
I want to share my experiences with my own writing, the assumptions I had about the WC before I started working here, and how much I’ve learned after being here for over a year.
For context, I’m an English major. As most people (correctly) assume, that means I like reading and writing. I’ve always considered myself a good writer, especially academically, and my grades in English classes have pretty much confirmed that throughout my life. The way I think of it, writing just happens to be something I was born to do. I’ve always had an inclination towards reading, and I think my exposure to so many books made writing come naturally to me. Grammar just clicks into place in my head in a way that other subjects, like math, never did.
For a while, I wished I had more of a knack for the STEM fields. I even thought about majoring in Biology, but research never appealed to me as much as literature. It would have been super cool if I could have become a rich, award-winning doctor or scientist, but hey, at least I can write a good essay.
Anyways, my penchant for English is the reason I got to skip the Cal Lu requirement for English 110, the usual intro class for college level writing. I had taken some AP literature classes in high school, and I guess the university figured I was good to go. So I didn’t get introduced to any writing resources on campus, and I was never required to make an appointment at the Writing Center. I honestly didn’t even know the place existed until I applied for a job here; I went the first two years of my college life without ever being told about a major campus resource!
Instead, as I started my college career, spurred by my history of being a good writer, I jumped confidently into honors level writing in my first semester and upper divisions soon after. I never even thought to ask for help. And, honestly, I did well!
From my freshman year up until now, going into senior year, I have continued to do well on all of my essays. And, as a writing tutor, I have been able to help hundreds of my peers work on their own writing too. So, you might ask, if I’ve made it this far without it, why do I wish I had known about the Writing Center earlier in my academic career?
The reason is simple–even though the products of my writing have consistently turned out fine, it doesn’t mean my process is very good. I have always been a huge procrastinator. And, as most people know, waiting until the last minute makes the writing process pretty stressful!
For as long as I can remember, I have had a really bad habit of leaving my writing assignments until the day before the deadline, sometimes even hours before. If I have an essay due at midnight on a Friday, you’ll find me in my room hunched over my computer at 11:30pm, scrambling to tie up my conclusion paragraph, with just enough time left to copy some citations and upload my paper.
As you can imagine, this has not been a very pleasant way to spend several nights a month, for years of my life. Even if I do get away with it and make the grades I need, is it really worth those awful hours of crunching out word counts and frantically rewriting sentences?
They say stress is bad for your health, and if that’s the case, then my essay cramming days have not been doing me any favors.
This is where the Writing Center comes in. Before I started working here, I assumed that writing resources were only for people who have bad writing—for people who struggle with grammar or have trouble making sense in their essays. I thought that I was the last person who would need to reach out for help.
In essence, I thought I was a good writer, because I had good writing.
Now that I work here, I’ve learned how much more expansive the Writing Center is and how much more there is to writing than just the product. Many writing centers have a similar slogan; we want to help make better writers, not just better writing. So, for me, what does it mean to be a better writer?
In my case, to be a better writer would mean taking care of my future writing self. That means looking at prompts ahead of time, setting short goals and deadlines, and giving myself time to write at a comfortable pace. Essentially, less stress!
I wouldn’t have thought about these things if it weren’t for my clients. As a consultant, I see the effects that different writing habits have on students. I notice that the ones who come in weeks before the due date often leave our sessions feeling much more confident and productive than the ones who come in the day before to do a rushed, last minute check.
I realized that I want to be more like the first student. I want to have time to get solid feedback from people, whether it be friends, the WC, or even a professor. I want to feel confident and proud of my writing, not because I got a good grade, but because I know I’ve done my best.
If I had discovered the Writing Center earlier, either as a client or consultant, I think I would have thought about forming better habits sooner. If I had known how to work on my procrastination, it might have saved me countless stressful nights and rushed conclusions. I could have improved not only my writing process, but also my writing mindset. As an English major, I don’t want to be writing just to make grades and hit deadlines—I want to write because I like it and because this field is my passion.
I just hope it’s not too late for me to change my habits. At this point, I’ve learned a lot from my experiences at the Writing Center. If I can help other people navigate the writing process, why shouldn’t I be able to help myself too?
So, what about you? What part of writing do you struggle with the most? Either way, I’m sure we could all use a little help. I, for one, am glad I found the right place to get it!