Peer Tutoring

As mentioned before, I am a peer tutor in the Learning Center for general help...

Today I actually had someone I worked with a few weeks ago come back for help. She had initially come to me to help her redraft an essay she wrote for a scholarship. When she first came in her work was beautiful and creative but way too wordy and disorganized. I soon found out she was an accomplished poet and she found it difficult to condense her ideas as well as remain clear and concise. After a half hour session with me she left a little disheartened with all of my marks on her work but optimistic she could revise it and return with a better paper. I told her to walk away from it for a couple days and come back to it with a clear mind. Today she came back with the revised version and it was like a completely different writer. Her ideas were clear and her points were developed just enough; I was elated and she was so proud of her work.

It is days like these that remind me why I peer tutor. Something that comes easy to me may seem overwhelming and sometimes insurmountable to someone else. The relief the student had on her face was priceless, she knew she had written a high quality essay and was confident in mailing it out for her scholarship. I was so happy to be a part of her experience of realizing what she was capable of.