8/26/15 response

     Even as an English major, I have often found myself in need of tutoring from the Reading and Writing Center. As a freshman, I found myself making appointments at the RWC just to keep myself on track with any essays I might have had.  Knowing that a RWC tutor was expecting work from me on a certain day and certain time ensured that I did not procrastinate.  By the time my appointment came around, I had formed a rough draft and no longer had to worry about writing the entire essay the night before it was due, something I commonly did in high school.  

      Furthermore, the RWC improves not just the piece on which a student is working, but also the student's writing.  As an English major, many of my friends ask me to proofread their papers for them.  When I simply edit the papers for them, I repeatedly find the same mistakes.  However, when I sit by them, read through, edit, and explain mistakes, I find fewer errors in later papers of theirs.  I think this mimics similar techniques to the RWC.  If students just wanted their papers edited, why not just use the spell checker?  But if a student really wants his/her writing skills to grow, he/she needs someone to actually instruct them in writing.  This is why the RWC is full of tutors, not editors.  Not everyone has the writing style of Fitzgerald, and there is nothing the RWC can do about that.  However, the RWC can ensure that every student is given the correct tools by which they can write successful papers for each of their college classes.