2008 Woodie Awards
Woehlk signs off after 24 years with Writing Center
Jessica Rapp
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: TruLife
In McClain 303, a room adorned with couches, cushions and candy, students are block-busters.
Senior Katie Monaghan works in the Writing Center at least once a week to help students with papers. She is one of several writing consultants who coaches students daily with issues ranging from proofreading a paper to countering writer's block.
"We're ... a really great resource for people who just need to brainstorm for something or they're concerned about the organization of a paper," she said. "Pretty much anything that involves writing whatsoever, we're there for them. ... There's a lot of funny people at the Writing Center, and it's always very homey there because we'll always have a little bowl of candy ... and word magnets to play with, so it's very relaxed, ... so no one should be afraid to come in."
The atmosphere in the Writing Center lends itself to fun, but some students have the misconception that the Writing Center's purpose only involves homework, Monaghan said.
Mary Lou Woehlk, 24-year director of the writing center and professor of English and Linguistics, said she works to prove this assumption wrong. She said she has watched the Writing Center develop over the years and prides herself and her staff for the Writing Center's high quality compared to writing centers at other universities.
"I think when creating a comfortable environment, the thing that you want to keep in mind first of all is that writers cannot feel intimidated or judged by having somebody else look at their writing," she said.
She said she puts emphasis on the fact that the Writing Center provides student consultants. The consultants constantly work to improve the comfort of the Writing Center to make an extremely reputable service, she said.
"By having peer writing consultants, [writers] know [they're] talking to someone who maybe has gone through the same experiences [they've] had," she said. "... So at our staff meetings, ... we talk about issues that involve writing centers, and a lot of what we do is to share situations so that the writing consultants can kind of grow by listening to what their peers are doing."
Senior Katie Monaghan works in the Writing Center at least once a week to help students with papers. She is one of several writing consultants who coaches students daily with issues ranging from proofreading a paper to countering writer's block.
"We're ... a really great resource for people who just need to brainstorm for something or they're concerned about the organization of a paper," she said. "Pretty much anything that involves writing whatsoever, we're there for them. ... There's a lot of funny people at the Writing Center, and it's always very homey there because we'll always have a little bowl of candy ... and word magnets to play with, so it's very relaxed, ... so no one should be afraid to come in."
The atmosphere in the Writing Center lends itself to fun, but some students have the misconception that the Writing Center's purpose only involves homework, Monaghan said.
Mary Lou Woehlk, 24-year director of the writing center and professor of English and Linguistics, said she works to prove this assumption wrong. She said she has watched the Writing Center develop over the years and prides herself and her staff for the Writing Center's high quality compared to writing centers at other universities.
"I think when creating a comfortable environment, the thing that you want to keep in mind first of all is that writers cannot feel intimidated or judged by having somebody else look at their writing," she said.
She said she puts emphasis on the fact that the Writing Center provides student consultants. The consultants constantly work to improve the comfort of the Writing Center to make an extremely reputable service, she said.
"By having peer writing consultants, [writers] know [they're] talking to someone who maybe has gone through the same experiences [they've] had," she said. "... So at our staff meetings, ... we talk about issues that involve writing centers, and a lot of what we do is to share situations so that the writing consultants can kind of grow by listening to what their peers are doing."
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