Our guest post this week is courtesy of Leanna Jasek-Rysdahl, a peer tutor at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. She shares an anecdote from her time studying abroad–and what it felt like to transfer her writing center skills to a new environment.
On Thanksgiving in Budapest, Hungary, my day consisted of microwaving a sweet potato, Skyping my parents, and helping a student in a two-hour long session. While “seeing” my family was enjoyable, the writing center appointment was by far the most interesting aspect of the holiday, and proved to be one of the most fascinating and challenging appointments I have had to date.
In order to fully understand the Thanksgiving appointment, it is necessary to provide context. Last year, I studied abroad in France during the summer for three months, directly followed by a semester at McDaniel College’s sister campus in Hungary.
These seven months were, without a doubt, the most formative of my life. I travelled to nine different countries and spoke with countless individuals. Whether it was on a park bench in Oslo, a ruin bar in Budapest, or a hostel in Bratislava, the people I met shared their stories with me and collectively changed my view of the world and the people living in it.
My desire to meet new people and share stories is fulfilled at the Writing Center as well. Before every appointment, I spend five minutes asking about the student’s day, and by the end of each appointment, I learn at least one interesting story about that student’s life. The stories connect to the individual’s specific writing style, and I enjoy watching the writer find his or her voice during the session.
While abroad, I missed the Writing Center environment and work. I especially felt this absence in Dijon, where I experienced a role reversal. I struggled when I wrote essays in French that would be simple for me in English. I worried about every detail, verb conjugation, and word choice. And when I looked at my graded essays, I cringed at the red marks that blemished my paper. It was an uncomfortable experience to ask for help on simple grammar questions even though I understand that there is nothing embarrassing about making mistakes when writing (especially when writing in an unfamiliar language).
After arriving in Hungary, the academic director at McDaniel Europe sent an email to students advertising tutor availability. I received an email response from a student (I will call him Jake) stating “I am writing a paper of 10 pages and I thought it would be a good idea if you could editing it.” I responded that we could have an appointment at any stage of his writing process; I stressed that the paper did not have to be complete (or even started) in order for us to work on it together.
At the start of our Thanksgiving appointment, Jake informed me that he is a student from Cyprus and a political science major. He also noted that because English is his second language, he constantly struggles with verb tenses.
After reading Jake’s paper, I knew that we had to focus on creating a thesis, as his paper was simply a summary of the book. We brainstormed ideas and Jake chose to write about how some of the author’s ideas are apparent in society today. We created an outline for Jake and I felt confident that Jake knew what to write when he returned home.
I was excited towards the end of the session because Jake corrected many of his repeated errors. However, the last five minutes of the session proved extremely trying. As Jake was about to leave the apartment, he said, “I am not going to change the thesis, it is too much work and I think what I have is fine.” I (barely) managed not to look at him open-mouthed and replied in what I hope was a polite tone, “You need a thesis for a research paper.” He denied this and left the session with his “final” paper.
In a movie-esque flashback moment, I saw myself during tutor training, reading Stephen M. North’s “The Idea of a Writing Center.” I specifically recalled two of North’s touted ideas: writing is a process and the sessions need to be student centered. I felt dismayed by my (mis)communication of the importance of the thesis, yet the comforting axiom that North relays to readers comforted me in this rather nostalgic moment. I was (and still am) one modest section of the overall process that contributes to creating a better writer, not a better paper.
I ended the day with my microwaved sweet potato, looking forward to when I could share this unusual writing center story with my co-tutors!
Have a question or comment for Leanna? Have an experience tutoring in an unfamiliar place? Comment below–and don’t forget about our blog posts about “Tutoring With an International Background.”
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