Hello everyone:

College writing centers can be a wonderful asset to the beginning college student. When I began college as a nontraditional (e.i. “older”) student, I had been out of the classroom for many, many years. I hadn’t written an essay since high school. Even though I was considered a pretty decent writer back then, I had forgotten many of the basics of essay writing.

One of my teaching assistants had the presence of mind to suggest I try the writing center (which is an asset that most colleges I have come across have available today) after giving me a D on the first paper I wrote for her. This formerly-A student in writing classes was totally shocked. After I picked my pride up off the floor, I hightailed it over for the first-available appointment. What a godsend that was!

Although writing centers will not write the paper for you, they will give you guidance as to where you are going wrong. You may need some remedial help in the form of a class or two, but they can work on your form and sentence structure that can help in class right now.

Do you struggle with subject/verb agreement, passive versus active voice, or semi-colon use? They can help. When do you hyphenate a word? Are you using a word that sounds like another word but is wrong (“are” for “our,” “there” for “their,” and the like). Go to the writing center. This is an asset worth talking about! Good luck!

Best,

Dr. Sheri

P.S. My grades went from a D to an A in a single semester- this strategy works!