Student experiences with the Writing Center | For Students

How I Used the Writing Center: Obed Narcisse ’21

Before coming to Amherst, I put so much pressure on myself to find the ‘perfect’ word or phrase to appear ‘smart’ on paper.
— OBED NARCISSE ’21

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A key to writing is being able to take complex ideas and communicate them clearly, concisely and in your own voice. The Writing Center is a great resource for students looking to engage in this process.

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At the onset of my Amherst career, this strategy made writing a difficult task for me because, at that point, I had not yet discovered my own voice. At the Writing Center, I have learned that it is more important to cultivate my own voice through reflection, practice, and revision than to develop a repertoire of fancy words to employ in my writing. As a result, I have embraced that writing is a process where one of the primary goals is to translate my thoughts into language that is clear, effective, and succinct. The Writing Center was instrumental to my success as a student at Amherst.”

Listed below are some things that I did to maximize the resources and opportunities that the Writing Center provides.

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Find the consultant who aligns best with your assignment.

Before you schedule a meeting, read the bios of each writing consultant and schedule an appointment with a consultant whose prior academic background aligns best with your assignment.

I believe that each writing consultant does a wonderful job of working alongside students to help them develop the skills to become effective and powerful communicators. That said, in my experience, I have found that sessions run more smoothly when my writing consultant already has some background knowledge of the topic at hand. This alignment between the consultant’s background and the classwork reduces the time needed to explain the content related to any assignments and grants you more time to spend on the actual writing and content.

Schedule your writing center appointment weeks in advance.

High-quality writing requires several drafts to brainstorm ideas, fix typographical errors, select the most appropriate words/phrases to communicate your ideas, organize the structure of your essay, and improve the overall flow. For this reason, I suggest planning a Writing Center appointment soon after you receive your assignment. When I scheduled an early appointment, it gave me sufficient time to complete an outline and enter the session with preliminary ideas that the Writing Consultant and I could work to refine. As you become more aware of your personal writing process, it could also be helpful to plan a few appointments ahead of time so that you have a tentative schedule for completing your essay. If you do have multiple sessions, I recommend planning them with the same consultant for consistency.

Make a plan for addressing comments and concerns that arose during the Writing Center appointment.

At the end of each meeting, develop a plan with your writing consultant that describes the next steps you need to take in order to improve your piece of writing. After the meeting, work to address those comments and, if necessary, write down any new or additional questions that you can bring to the next appointment.

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How I Used the Writing Center: Obed Narcisse ’21

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