Another epic fail in shadowing..

So this past Wednesday, I was unable to shadow an actual consultation for the second week in a row-- however, this time it was due to my own obliviousness. To be honest, I actually feel pretty stupid because when I opened the door to the Writing Center, I failed to notice the big, bright yellow note on the door stating in big, black, capital letters that my consultant would be doing her session a study room at the library.

Oh the flip side, I was able to get more insight about the “writing consultation process” because another consultant (along with a student from our class) was in the Writing Center and did not have a scheduled appointment. Despite having yet to shadow a real consultation, it was still helpful to get another perspective from a different consultant.

Something he mentioned that had never been brought to my attention before was the issue with patience. I never really thought it would be an issue, but this consultant mentioned how sometimes other students can get frustrated when working on certain parts of their paper. I can understand how many students come to the Writing Center in the first place because they are seeking to revolve some sort of struggle with a given writing assignment. Also, as any Richmond student deals with, time is usually of the essence. The consultant mentioned various ways he deals with a “consultee” who gets discouraged. Interestingly, he mentioned that sometimes the best thing to do is just move on and work on other issues that student needs help with.

It was good hearing how his styles both overlapped and differed from those of the consult I normally will be shadowing. I think perhaps, switching consultants partially through the semester would be really beneficial so that we are not just learning to mimic the tactics of one consultant—but rather, integrate many observed tactics to create a style of our own to help enhance and encourage fellow students as writers.  

Oh, and just to finish this post off, I’ll add that I finally noticed the yellow sign on the door—as I was leaving…clearly this has not been the best week for me!