THE WRITING CENTER - UC SAN DIEGO
Issue 3
1
The
Writing
Center
UC San Diego
February 2014
STAFF WRITERS: NICHOLE NOMURA, CHIRAG KRISHNA, NIKI MOSHIRI
The Writing Center and Beyond
Developing a Professional Identity
The UCSD Writing Center does not only
benefit students who come for help with
their papers; it offers valuable opportunities
for the peer writing mentors themselves.
Mentors undertake research projects, reflect
on their learning experiences, and present
their work at conferences – activities that
allow them to develop a professional identity
and contribute to the academic community.
Six mentors (Jesse Qin, Sarah Kowalski,
Kelly Johnson, Elena Silva, Nichole Nomura,
and Adena Zadourian) recently presented a
well-received panel at the Experiential
Learning Conference hosted by UCSD’s Sixth
College on Jan. 31. The panel focused on four
high-impact learning practices that peer
writing mentors experience: collaborative
projects, undergraduate research, service
learning, and encountering diversity.
Kelly Johnson, one of the mentor
panelists who spoke about her work with
international students, enjoyed “being able
to take everything I’ve learned working as a
peer writing mentor and communicate my
experiences to interested listeners.”
According to panelist Jesse Qin, “The
best part was interacting with members of
the audience. The dialogue and environment
felt so professional that for a moment I
forgot that I was just a college student.”
Jenny Haden, a peer mentor who gave a
talk at the International Writing Centers
by [Article Author]
Association convention last year, explains
why conference participation is important
to her: “Because I want to be a professor,
presenting at a professional level helps me
develop skills which will be useful for the rest
of my career.”
Upcoming conferences include next
month’s Southern California Writing Center
Association convention to be held at UC
Irvine. Writing center personnel from across
the region will gather to share best practices
and hone their skills. The UCSD Writing
Center will be represented by three mentor
panels: one focusing on support for
struggling students, one on helping students
make the leap from summary to analysis in
their writing, and one on the kinds of
communication that can promote more
comfortable one-on-one sessions.
In April, three mentors will travel with
center director Madeleine Picciotto to
Anaheim for the annual convention of the
Association of Colleges for Teaching and
Learning Assistance. There, they will deliver
a presentation on interactive technology
used in the UCSD Writing Center to enhance
learning and improve assessment.
Dr. Picciotto notes that these conference
presentations “provide a sense of being part
of a larger intellectual enterprise. They also
show that the Writing Center is a valuable
site for academic inquiry.”
IN THIS ISSUE
By the Numbers: page 2
Reaching a Wider Audience:
page 3
Spotlight:
Chirag Krishna
“The process of helping
others with their work
keeps me sharp.”
Spotlight:
Annika Caspers Brown
“Writing well is necessary
to properly convey what
you actually mean.”
Spotlight:
Elena Silva
“I’ve become more
conscientious about my
own writing process.”
(Spotlights on page 2)
THE WRITING CENTER - UC SAN DIEGO | Issue 3
2
Mentor Spotlights
The 34 peer mentors who currently work at the Writing Center represent a wide range of backgrounds, interests, and experiences.
Get to know some of our talented staff!
Chirag Krishna
Annika Caspers Brown
Elena Silva
Year: Junior
College: Sixth
Major: Bioengineering –
Bioinformatics
Favorite Hobby: Creative
writing (fiction)
Year: Junior
College: Warren
Major: Biochemistry /
Chemistry
Favorite Hobby: Aerial
silks performance
Year: Junior
College: Roosevelt
Major: Literature /
Writing
Favorite Hobby: playing
and singing at the piano
As a STEM major, opportunities to refine
my writing skills are hard to come by. The
process of helping others with their work keeps
me sharp – for that, I’m very grateful!
The STEM emphasis on logical thinking
provides me with a unique perspective on
developing a good paper. While students
sometimes consider evaluation of writing to be
subjective, there are some aspects of writing an
academic paper – thesis construction, analysis
of evidence, and so on – that remain standard
and that can be conveyed in a logical manner.
It’s exciting to help students view their writing
through a slightly different lens, and to watch
them apply it to the development of their own
ideas.
Ultimately, it’s the dialogue between
mentor and mentee that makes for a successful
session. Constructive conversation allows a
student to work with the mentor to develop his
or her paper. This two-way model gives the
mentors the opportunity to get a feel for how
to best provide support, depending on the
student, subject, or both.
Over the past year, I feel that I’ve grown as
a mentor. Working with students from multiple
disciplines has been such a fulfilling experience,
and I’m looking forward to honing my skills as a
writer and mentor in the months to come.
Although I’m a Biochemistry major, I
believe that writing is extremely important.
Even in science, writing well is necessary to
properly convey what you actually mean.
Without good writing, messages can
become confused, and this can lead to
misunderstanding.
Being a peer writing mentor gives me
the opportunity to convey my own passion
about the importance of writing to others. It
also gives me a chance to continue having
some of the experiences I appreciated in my
college writing sequence.
I really enjoyed my Warren Writing
courses because they made me consider
ethical issues in a new light, and I learned a
lot about how to create a compelling
argument. It’s always exciting to be able to
share my interest in a topic with others by
teasing apart the complexities which may
become frustrating when we try to puzzle
them out alone.
Working at the Writing Center has
increased my social confidence and my
ability to communicate with others. I’ve
enjoyed the wide variety of students who
come for assistance. My favorite thing
about my job is all the cool people I get to
work with!
I decided to apply for a position as a
writing mentor because I had been helping a
couple of my roommates with their writing
and I found I really liked it. In general, I enjoy
discussing writing and developing new ideas
in conversation with others.
Because we’re trained to work with
writing in all fields at the Writing Center, I get
to learn a lot about other academic
disciplines. I appreciate discussing paper
ideas with students who are genuinely
interested in what they’re writing about.
I also appreciate opportunities for
professional development. Speaking at the
Sixth College conference was an enlightening
experience! I like sharing what we do at the
Writing Center, and it was great to have a
representative student panel talk about what
we’ve learned from our work.
Since I started working as a writing
mentor, I’ve become more conscientious
about my own writing process. I’ve learned a
lot of great organizational techniques, and I
realize that coming up with a strong thesis,
solid subtopics, and applicable evidence can
be a struggle for everyone. Through talking
with other students about their writing, I’ve
compiled a set of good writing tools for
myself as well.
The Writing Center by the Numbers
Winter quarter has been busy in the Writing Center. Peer writing mentors have conducted 916 individual sessions since January, and 240 students have
attended the 17 different group workshops that have been offered so far this term. Many students who first used Writing Center services in the fall have
returned; approximately 50% of our visitors are “repeat customers,” with 15% returning four or more times. All in all, since the Writing Center opened for
the 2013-2014 academic year four months ago, a total of 1518 different students have taken advantage of center offerings. The vast majority – 85% –
sought assistance with course assignments, but 15% came for help with a variety of personal writing projects.
85% course assignments
15% personal writing projects
1518 students
this yearso
THE WRITING CENTER - UC SAN DIEGO | Issue 3
Students Speak Out
-
3
Reaching Out to a Wider Audience
“My mentoring session really helped me to
feel more confident about my paper.”
Kyungbin Kim, freshman
Sixth College
“The Writing Center has helped me improve
my essay in so many ways. The convenient
location and knowledgeable writing mentors
provided such a beneficial experience!”
Julia Len, sophomore
Muir College
-
“The Writing Center is a vital tool for me. The
mentors and sessions are great, and I highly
recommend them!”
Paulina Lara-Aldana, junior
Roosevelt College
“As an international student, I’ve found the
Writing Center to be especially helpful.”
Marta Bertran, senior
Revelle College
Find out more about the Writing Center
at UC San Diego:
writingcenter.ucsd.edu
facebook.com/ucsdwritingcenter
twitter.com/writeUCSD
writingcenter@ucsd.edu
Peer writing mentors Aleksi Hendricks, Rick Thomas, and Kevin Yen share tips for getting started on medical
school personal statements at the HMP3 “Dine and Dash” event on Feb. 12.
The Writing Center’s peer mentors are used to operating on a one-to-one level: working with
one student at a time, talking together about a specific piece of writing. But as they gain greater
skill and knowledge through experience with individual sessions, mentors are expanding their
scope beyond a single student’s paper to the exploration of general concerns shared by many.
Since its inception, the Writing Center has offered a wide range of group workshops focusing
on general writing tasks and issues, led by center director Madeleine Picciotto. For example, a
popular series of workshops supports students in the Basic Writing (SDCC 1/4) classes. But as
demand for group events has become greater than Dr. Picciotto can handle on her own, mentors
have begun to facilitate workshops and presentations under her supervision – sometimes within
the Writing Center, but also reaching out to the larger UCSD community.
Workshops led by peer writing mentors have addressed such topics as writing application
essays, preparing for the Basic Writing exit exam, and crafting an effective thesis for an academic
argument. Writing mentors have often taken their presentations “on the road,” from informal RA
gatherings in the college residence halls to meetings of student organizations.
Two events held on Feb. 12 exemplify the new mentor-led offerings. One, which took place in
the Writing Center, was led by Roosevelt College writing mentors Nichole Nomura and Sarah
Kowalski. They helped a packed room of 48 students currently enrolled in MMW 12 to understand
the expectations for an upcoming paper assignment.
Meanwhile, across campus, writing mentors Aleksi Hendricks, Rick Thomas, and Kevin Yen
took part in the Health and Medical Professions Preparation Program’s “Dine and Dash” event. As
attendees circulated among a variety of resource tables in lively ten-minute “speed-dating”
rounds, the peer mentors offered tips for writing effective personal statements.
Mentor Rick Thomas comments, “I appreciated the questions people brought to us at the
HMP3 event – it was exciting to see such focus and determination. Our suggestions and advice
really seemed to reach them, attesting to the universal importance of clear and coherent writing.”
Students who have attended mentor-led events have praised the knowledge and accessibility
of the writing mentors. Being helped by a peer can often be less intimidating than approaching a
TA or instructor, and both students and mentors learn from the experience.
From High School to College-Level Writing
A student discusses her paper in a one-on-one session
with peer writing mentor Erika Cherk.
The expectations for writing on the college level are not always clear to incoming students.
Writing Center undergraduate research intern Nichole Nomura is exploring the ways in which
“college-level writing” is understood by faculty and by composition professionals, and comparing
this understanding to the assumptions held by high school students – in particular, students who
take Advanced Placement English courses that are promoted as college equivalents.
Building on her exposure to college writing assignments in the Writing Center and on her
review of the literature in the field, Nichole’s current research project involves field work with high
school AP English classes. She hopes to identify the extent to which students’ expectations of
college-level writing are shaped by their AP English experiences.
Nichole points out that her research may lead to more effective Writing Center services. She
explains, “By gaining a deeper understanding of student expectations, we can develop better
approaches to helping them make the transition into college-level writing.”