Did you know that in most universities/colleges nation-wide, they offer a writing center or a similar program that help students in improving their writing skills for free? That’s right, you heard me correctly. Chances are, your university is offering a writing center at no costs and you aren’t even aware of it! But that’s okay. This is what I will be talking about today. Whether you need help brainstorming for an essay in one of your courses, or in drafting a resume, or even trying to gain motivation to start on your dissertation, the writing center is there to help guide you to the right path!
Unfortunately, as I have said before, many students aren’t aware of their University’s Writing Center. Perhaps they may have heard of them before, but all in all, they don’t utilize it to the best of their advantage. The way that I see it is, if I’m paying for a tuition that costs thousands of dollars, I might as well use the resources that I have access to for free, because, in what way can it not benefit me?
University Writing Centers are absolutely essential in shaping your writing and assessing abilities, because many of the Writing Center Consultations can aid in teaching students skills and strategies that can help them to become finer writers in the future!
However, there is a common misconception when it comes to the writing centers. Many students believe that this resource is akin to an editing or proofreading service, which is absolutely not the case. If the consultants are editing your resume or your essay, it’s not going to help you to become an improved writer in any way. Instead, the consultants help to align your thoughts with what goals you need to attain for your writing process. Whether it’s by figuring out solutions to shorten your thesis statement, or discovering other ways to be straight-to-the-point – those are fruitful techniques that the consultants try to help you with. Ultimately, the University’s Writing Center is a necessary resource to guide the student in how to identify concerns in regards to their draft and teach them strategies in ways of refining those concerns in the long-run.
Furthermore, University’s Writing Centers try to teach the idea that you should prioritize your writing process over your product. Of course, many students want to get their writing project done and out of the way as soon as possible so that they can focus on their next upcoming deadline. However, the writing process is absolutely fundamental in enhancing as a writer and utilizing the complete writing experience to your full potential.
Also, I would recommend looking into your University’s Writing Center for any additional writing workshops that they may schedule in the future. Perhaps your university will be hosting a writing retreat all-day Saturday via Zoom, where you can receive tools and techniques to improve your writing ten-fold! By attending these virtual sessions, they will assist in aligning your productivity and keeping track of your progress and writing goals.
Did you know that you can also get a job as a university writing consultant? Usually, these jobs are geared more towards graduate or PHD students, so you can definitely start looking forward to those jobs in the future.
Essentially, there are many ways that you can use your University’s Writing Center. It may serve as an external accountability to you, or facilitate your understanding of what tools to adopt, or even gain the wonderful opportunity to become a writing consultant one day. Either way, this is an indispensable resource that will help orient your productivity and your goals for your future. Good luck to everyone and I wish you all the best!
General Intelligences 