Blog - The Wheaton College Writing Center Blog

What Student Teaching Taught Me About Writing Consultations

Post author By Ryan Wilson
Post date May 4, 2022
No Comments on What Student Teaching Taught Me About Writing Consultations

Student teaching taught me to view the Writing Center as a place to interact with human beings, and not just fix papers.

Student teaching is, as they say, a once in a lifetime experience. A single semester of trying to teach a class that’s not your own—designing and teaching lessons for someone else’s students, grading homework and projects for someone else’s class, writing tests for students you will soon leave. It is the limbo between being a student and being a teacher: a time to make mistakes, a place to be corrected.

For me, student teaching was a lot of making mistakes and a lot of being corrected.

Tags grace, relationship, student teaching, transaction, writing center

Writing at Wheaton Writing Center

The Writing Center Is for Science Majors, Too!

Post author By Christian Kim
Post date March 22, 2022
No Comments on The Writing Center Is for Science Majors, Too!

Writing? In the sciences? Strange, I know. Even at a liberal arts college like Wheaton, we often think of science and writing as belonging on opposite sides of the academic spectrum, as if there is a great distance between STEM and the humanities. However, as an English major and former Pre-Med student, I have seen firsthand that they are not quite that distinct. Writing isn’t just for the aspiring novelist or literary critic; it is a skill that can serve you in nearly every facet of your life.

Tags chemistry, pre-med, science, science writing, wheaton, writing center

Writing Center

Inside Two Writing Centers: An Interview with DePaul University Tutors

Post author By Maggie Rothrock
Post date March 1, 2022
No Comments on Inside Two Writing Centers: An Interview with DePaul University Tutors

This interview was recorded via Zoom on Monday, February 14^th, between DePaul University’s writing tutor Ishika B. and Wheaton College’s Writing Consultant Eunice R. DePaul’s Writing Center Blog Editor, Miriam C., prepared and asked the bold questions. Wheaton’s Online Operations Coordinator, Maggie R., supervised the process. We hope you enjoy this conversation between peer writing tutors!

Tags interview, wheaton, writing center

Research Writing at Wheaton

Writing a Concert Review: Tips from a Conservatory Student

Post author By Daniel Hagenbuch
Post date February 15, 2022
No Comments on Writing a Concert Review: Tips from a Conservatory Student

How do I write about the music I hear at a concert?

Most undergraduate students will face this question at some point during their time at Wheaton, as Introduction to Music professors ask their students to submit written concert reviews.

Tags analysis, community, concert review, conservatory, events, harmony, introduction to music, john rakes, keith eiten, melody, music, research, texture, timbre

Writing at Wheaton Writing Center

“It’s Empowering”: A Grad Student’s Experience at the Writing Center

Post author By Maggie Rothrock
Post date January 31, 2022
No Comments on “It’s Empowering”: A Grad Student’s Experience at the Writing Center

Two people hold hands around cups of coffee.

Many students can feel hesitant entering the Writing Center, but one graduate client, Caitlin McNamara, has just the advice for them.

Caitlin is a graduate student in the M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy program, and she has frequented the Writing Center regularly for two years. We interviewed her to see why she keeps coming back–and why she recommends that others do so too.

Tags drafts, experience, graduate students, interview, vulnerable, wheaton, writing, writing at wheaton, writing center

Writing at Wheaton

Writing as a Spiritual Practice

Post author By Anna Catherine McGraw
Post date November 9, 2021
No Comments on Writing as a Spiritual Practice

A photo of a young person's hands folded in prayer over an open Bible

Why do you write?

For some, the answer to that question might be as narrow as “because my professor told me to,” or as vast as a daily necessity to understand your own thoughts. Wherever you land on this spectrum, wherever your choice of study and career takes you, writing has the potential to be meaningful in your life both materially and spiritually.

Tags attention, bible, charitable writing, christianity, purpose, simone weil, spiritual practice, stephanie paulsell, virtue, wheaton

Professional Development

The Genre of the Personal Statement

Post author By Abigail Aycock
Post date October 26, 2021
No Comments on The Genre of the Personal Statement

A photo of a young man on a city street wearing a backpack and smiling

It’s fall, and that means it’s officially time to begin crafting admissions essays again! And no, I don’t mean the Common Application that haunted a teenage year or two in high school; I’m talking about graduate school applications. Whether you’re looking into a program in International Affairs or Bioengineering, you may face a vague prompt and a tight word limit to portray your passion, credentials, and potential.

Tags admissions, application, grad school, personal statement, statement of purpose

Writing at Wheaton

No Good Writers: Why Discourse Community Matters and What It Means for Our Writing

Post author By Maggie Rothrock
Post date October 5, 2021
No Comments on No Good Writers: Why Discourse Community Matters and What It Means for Our Writing

An aerial shot of three students sitting close together and pointing to a laptop screen

I got a 71% on my first paper in college.

Tags audience, community, discourse community, knowledge, language, perfectionism, wheaton

Book Reviews Writing Center

Metaphors for a Charitable Writing Center

Post author By Monica Colón
Post date September 17, 2021
No Comments on Metaphors for a Charitable Writing Center

I have a confession to make. On day one of Writing Center training, I learned to avoid the metaphor of a “fix-it shop” when describing my job. But I still find myself saying things like “I help people fix things that don’t work in their papers” when I’m explaining the Writing Center to other people.