Van Wylen Library and the Academic Support Center have started a new program through the writing center. Between 8 and 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday nights, students can come to the project room on the first floor of the library (room 113) and have a tutor from the writing center help them with a paper.
The drop-in sessions, which began earlier this month, give you the chance to have your paper looked over by a student tutor without making an appointment through the Academic Support Center. While appointment sessions are still available Monday through Friday, drop-in sessions give you another option in case you can’t find an appointment time that works with your schedule. The drop-in sessions also add to similar options the Academic Support Center already offers, such as drop-in help sessions for math courses.
The student tutors at the drop-in sessions come from all sorts of majors, ranging from Chemistry to English. That way, if your tutor doesn’t know much about the subject of your paper, they can get you in touch with someone who does. These tutors can help you at any stage of your writing, from getting started to polishing your final draft.
“We’re trying to not just focus on grammar, but on how to make a paper look better,” said Erin Eddy (’10), one of the student tutors.
Amy Alvine (’12), used the drop-in sessions for Dr. Beard’s Intro to Global Politics class because the writing session’s one-hour appointments were all booked before her paper was due.
“It was nice having someone who knew what the teachers wanted and the flaws they would look for to proofread my paper,” she said. “The one-on-one with a fellow peer was a laid back and relaxing environment and made me feel very comfortable. It was so much easier to ask questions about things I was unsure of. I would definitely go back and use the drop-in sessions again.”
If you need help on a paper that’s due soon and aren’t able to schedule an appointment through the writing center, check out the drop-in writing sessions in the library!
— BJS