Review #1

SUNY Potsdam’s

College Writing Center

By Esther Kim

I first encountered the college writing center at SUNY Potsdam my freshmen year. For one of my anthropology courses, I was assigned a small research paper where I had to study and analyze paintings from Korea. Since high school, I had always procrastinated till the very last minute. But, in the hopes of impressing my professor, I got a head start on my essay and wrote my rough draft. I knew there was a writing center on campus because I had passed by the orange doors, located in Carson Hall, many times. Thus, I made my appointment to have my essay critiqued by a peer tutor. I say critique because that is what I thought the writing tutors were there to do. I wanted some feedback on any mistakes regarding the organization, grammar, clarity, etc. of the essay. 

As my tutoring session progressed, I realized my tutor’s job was not to critique my writing. Rather, he and I were having an in-depth discussion on both my writing and topic. We were sharing ideas on how to improve my writing. I walked away from my session with good ideas on how to revise my paper. As it turns out, the session was extremely helpful because I received a 4.0.

Reflecting back on my first session, I remember feeling comfortable in the environment. My tutor was patient, supportive, and extremely helpful. As a private person, I do not like sharing my writing with anyone. But, when I read my essay out loud, I felt at peace with my words.

The aspiration to create a comfortable environment where the tutees and the tutors are able to have an intellectual and effective conversation regarding the rhetoric of writing is probably the greatest strength of the College Writing Center. The tutors are there to help educate students on the practical tools for writing so that students can apply that erudition in all academic subjects. The strongest appeal to the center is that the tutors are your fellow peers. Because a fellow peer, classmate, friend, or acquaintance was tutoring me, I felt at ease. I was able to express my ideas freely without the pressure of desiring to impress an academic professor.

From my experience at the College Writing Center, I learned how to become a better writer. By observing and working with different writing styles, my writing has changed. Today, I have more variety and clarity in my writing. I am more aware of my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. The more I learn about the various techniques of writing, my desire to become an effective and virtuous writer increases.

My experience at the center was so positive that it actually motivated me to become a tutor. As a result, I officially start tutoring this upcoming fall semester. Stop by, ask for me and you won’t regret it.