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During my undergraduate years, I had only a rudimentary understanding of the kind of life that I wanted to pursue. I knew that I was interested in education: the way it prepares people to make better decisions regarding not only themselves but the public sphere that they are engaged with. I knew that I was interested in literature: the way that it allows one to take on other perspectives, ones that may not be so readily available and the way that it allows one to apply the lessons and social criticisms being read to their own lives. I knew that I was interested in culture: the way that human beings interact and create extensions of themselves, through art or media for example, and the way that our behavior can be critically analyzed in order to give way to better understandings of our current social situations. I knew that I was interested in writing: not only as a way of communicating myself to myself, but as a way of communicating my thoughts and ideas to others. Although I was sure of this much, and although I knew that all of these ideas were somehow congruent with one another, without having a tangible place to not only discuss my ideas and interpretations of the world, but a place where I could put them into context as well, I found myself without any direction or support concerning the academic path in life that I was already unconsciously choosing.
There is certainly something about the William Paterson University Writing Center that attracts students who are interested in discussing similar academic and cultural topics that they might not be able to communicate elsewhere. Students are drawn to the center as a kind of cultural hub because of the bohemian-driven picture postcards and the other collaged décor that lines the walls, and the self-depreciating humor employed not only during tutoring sessions but through out the atmosphere overall. Because some students realize that education will allow them to positively participate in social movements as more informed citizens, they are more inclined to seek out communities where they can broaden their foundation of knowledge. The kinds of conversations that happen at the William Paterson University Writing Center, whether they happen between tutor and tutor, student and tutor, or director and tutor (as often is the case in our center), allow all of us to become a part of “the” conversation, the dialogue of the world. There is always a need for approaching the dialogue with new techniques, and I think students should be looked to for creating them.
Our Writing Center has helped me to develop my academic interest in such a way that pursuing it further no longer feels as challenging or as intimidating as I once thought it was. The space that Writing Centers can create, if encouraged, can give students a chance to develop their critical ability to think about the systems that make up the world, and see how they can individually improve upon them.
Panel— Electric Eclectic: Welcoming Students with Weirdness
with Jesse Carr, Dr. Stephen Newton, Amy Nystrom, and Trudi Van Dyke