It goes like this…you’re waiting for students to come in. Then all of a sudden they all come in, one by one, but like a herd of elephants lined up at the door. You’re excited, but you start sweating. How am I going to help all these students in one night?!
They hand you their papers with furrowed, confused eyebrows. They hold their assignment sheets between two fingers, as if the paper is poisonous. They are terrified. You are terrified they won’t see how powerful their writing can be.
You take them in, one-by-one. You read their essays, you read them aloud, you talk, you revise, you edit together with a pen in both of your and their hands. You help them. Each of them. Then, when the night ends, you fill out your record sheets, lean back, and sigh. A crazy, busy, but incredibly successful day in the Writing Center.
