The writing center for me was quite the experience. I barely made it to my appointment that day because of the weather. It was a hurricane outside and I could barely walk with out being smacked in a different direction by the wind and rain. As I tried to save my computer from any water damage, I moved as quickly as my body would allow me. When I finally reached the writing center, I bustled in, huffying and puffing, and completely drenched. I had manage to salvage my laptop, all my books however weren't quite as lucky.
The tutor who helped was junior or senior, male, and very kind. I will leave him nameless for his privacy (and also because I wouldn't be able to remember his name or his face if you payed me). For this reason lets just call him Jake.
We sat down with my laptop and because I was a little disorganized he seemed to be also. I hadn't printed out a copy, but it didn't seem to matter we just used my computer( which did I mention was low on battery?).
Despite my misfortunate given circumstances Jake was quite helpful. We went over my opening paragraph and made it completely solid, and then continued on to the rest of my paper. The only thing that I would have to complain about is that he was really inattentive. If he didn't need to pay attention to me at that moment in time, you could bet he was looking at his computer or staring at his watch, or out the window.
Our hour had passed and we were about half way done. It annoyed me that half way through mid sentence he cut me off to say that our time was up. I asked Jake if he had another appointment, he hesitated and said "Yeah, yeah, yeah.". My computer was going to die anyway but he really couldn't wait to get rid of me. As I packed up my computer put my rain jacket back on and got myself together to face the ridiculous weather that was still outside. I noticed he had gone back to playing a video game on his computer. I check my phone: 1:15... another appointment really? Come on Jake! Help a girl in need, a girl who's paper was in need of serious help. Wasn't it his job to help me? Wasn't he getting paid to sit there and help me?
It would seem that didn't matter. Overall he was very helpful, but there were a couple of things that could have been adjusted to make my experience better and have better results from going.
I tied the belt on my jacket and gave one more " Jake do your job and tell me you wouldn't mind helping me for another ten minutes" look at him. No response.
I left, got luch, and sat there pondering how someone grades a paper that doesn't seem complete.
Dammit Jake -_____-
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I feel your frustration with Jake, but have you considered what the role of the tutor is? He can't actually cover all the paper in an hour conversation, can he? He could probably ASSESS or GRADE it in that time period, but that's not exactly his function. He's supposed to see WITH YOU your paper as a representation of your thinking and reasoning. And at best, he will be able to have you see WITH HIM how your paper reads. That's about it. He is offering you his energy and intellect as a reader, and offering you his energy and intellect and influence as a writer. Nothing more.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, it is exhausting work.
ReplyDeleteThat is annoying. I sort of had a bad experience too. My person never showed up for my appointment. I wonder if it's because the semester is coming to a close and everyone is freaked out about their own grades. Maybe not if "Jake" was playing video games. But he could've been waiting for his other appointment to show up so it's hard to say.
ReplyDeleteBesides the fact that my person didn't show up, they still managed to fit me in for thirty minutes. It helped too, so maybe the good experiences outweigh the bad.