First Name:
Laura
Last Name:
Tabor
Major Department:
English
Thesis Director:
Elizabeth Carroll & Tonya Ritola
Date of Thesis:
May 2011
As a sophomore in college, I took a course designed to prepare me to become a writing center consultant. The class taught the basics of writing center pedagogy and theory. I began to learn the benefits of having a place where clients could have an open conversation about improving their writing with a consultant who focused on whatever aspect of the writer that was needed. I learned how talking intentionally with writers about various writing concerns that could be raised in a writing center consultation (organization, content, grammar, brainstorming, clarity, and others) really did help students internalize the lessons that managed to escape their notice or were never addressed in composition classes or in their K-12 school careers. The writing center was willing to radically adapt to writers, be it for their different levels of prowess in the English language, for the disciplines in which they were writing, or even for their need to rush to class in 20 minutes. A radically adaptable set of composition-informed peer tutors: I got hooked on the concept, fully believing that it could have a positive impact on writers. I also excelled in my Spanish classes. I did my work, talked in class even when I was embarrassed of my horrible verb conjugations, and received A's in my classes. My high school Spanish classes had allowed me to skip both beginning and intermediate classes, and other than one semester of grammar review, all my courses had been content-driven rather than explicitly related to the acquisition of the Spanish language. My goal with a Spanish major was to become proficient in the language so that I could either use Spanish in a non-profit capacity in order to interact with the many Spanish speakers in America, or I could use it to get a job as a translator or interpreter.