Super-Nervous About Coming to The Writing Center? A Guide on What to Expect From Us

Written by: Writing Assistant Amy Beasley

Usually referred to as simply “The Writing Center,” the mission of the David J. Klooster Center for Excellence in Writing is in the name: to help you become excellent writers. Students from all majors and years in school are welcome to take advantage of this on-campus resource. In fact, the staff here is made up of people from a wide range of majors and years in school. We are located in the Van Wylen Library, on the first floor, and are open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, and noon to 11 p.m. on Sunday. The Klooster Center is not open on Saturday (to let our Writing Assistants get their beauty sleep, of course).

All students are invited to make an appointment at any stage in the writing process. Are you confused by the prompt your prof gave to you? Do you hate dealing with citations? Wherever you are, the Writing Assistants at the Klooster Center are excited to help you!

We’re pretty open-minded here at the KCEW, and we pride ourselves on providing a judgment-free zone. Think you’re not good at writing? No worries! We all have different strengths to bring to the table!  

Want some brownie points with your professor? Great! Profs love it when students visit the center because it shows you actually care about turning in good work. Plus, chances are the work you turn in after a visit at the center will probably be better than work that hasn’t been revised. Who doesn’t want to give a good impression on their profs and get better grades all in one step? A Writing Center appointment kills two birds with one stone!

If you’re still nervous about coming in to meet with us, here’s an outline of what you can expect when making an appointment:

First, go to https://hope.edu/offices/klooster-center/ and click the blue box that says “Meet with a Writing Assistant.” From there, you will be taken to a Google Form to let us know a little bit about you and your needs (i.e. your name, year in school, professor name, the class the assignment is for, assignment due date, etc). You will also have the opportunity to indicate the preferred day and time for your appointment. After you submit the form, you should receive a lightning-fast response from the center.  

When the time of your appointment arrives, just approach the person at the desk in front of the blue partition screen. Tell them your name, and they’ll let your Writing Assistant know you’re there. You’ll be introduced and be on your way!

That’s it!

Although it might be scary to have someone else read your writing, we do our best to make it as comfortable as possible. A Writing center appointment really is painless, and many students have actually enjoyed coming in. Just ask the 2,000-plus students who made an appointment with us last year. We’re looking forward to working with you soon!

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