Senior Profiles

 As springtime (and graduation) approaches, lets take a look at a few of our soon to be Coe Writing Center alumni and some of their future plans: 

Valerie Plesha

    Valerie is in her final semester here at Coe, preparing to graduate and excited for what her future holds.  During her time here she worked towards a grand total of 3 majors including chemistry, biology, and neuroscience. Her goal for the upcoming years is to attend a graduate program in one of her areas of study. This winter she worked to submit 12 graduate school applications, and has an offer at North Carolina State University for chemistry which she will be visiting in just a few weeks. How exciting! Besides that she has spent a portion of her spring semester traveling to interviews in places such as Reno, Nevada and Cincinnati. Although Valerie has not heard a final decision for her top school in Buffalo, it seems that she will have plenty of options and a very bright future coming out of Coe. 

    Of course, Valerie credits some of her success in the real world to her work here at the writing center. She claimed it definitely stood out on her resume and put her one step ahead in the science field. She felt it told her interviewers that she had quality writing skills that may be useful for writing grants and communicating, and she often brought up her work at the Catherine McAuley Center she did for Topics in her essays and interviews since it shows her character and provides evidence of teaching abilities. Valerie is considering becoming a professor after grad school, so her work teaching at the Catherine McAuley Center will be a great resume builder on top of the great experience she had. 

    Valerie's advice to current and future consultants was to be prepared to work the shifts you mark as available, don't expect the shifts you want, and never be afraid to ask for permanent shift changes- especially if you have an awkward break in your shift. Her favorite thing in the writing center is Abe Lincoln because the googly eyes are both funny and judging- better watch out... 

Izzy Craig

    Izzy is a senior with a major in history and a political science minor.  So far Izzy has applied to work at the national park service or as a history education specialist for the state of Iowa. Her main goal is to find work in public history. Public history is making history accessible and teaching to the general public. Izzy describes public history work as a way of storytelling, something that she really enjoys. Another career path Izzy finds interesting is being a cemetery historian: someone who preserves the stories of the recently buried and do genealogy work. 

    Izzy has used her work in the writing center as a major resume builder on both general and career specific levels. A state history publication is required for some of the jobs Izzy has taken an interest in and of course the writing center is connected to loads of publications. She has proved that she can work formally with all people including international workers which is a major factor in public history work. On the more general side, Izzy feels that working as a consultant and having conversations with writers allowed her practice public speaking and important formal conversation skills that are very useful in the workforce. 

    Her advice to other consultants was to embrace coming to work in the writing center and helping writers improve themselves and their projects. She urges us all to buy into the idea of helping writers to the best of our abilities and making our work about more than just any work study position. 

    The wavy lamp took the #1 spot in Izzy's list of favorite things in the writing center. She has a strong emotional connection to the wavy lamp and always feels bad for it because of the constant abuse it takes being pushed up against the wall. Moral of the story, treat the wavy lamp nicely and help it out whenever it's shade is a little crooked. 

Emma Graczyk

    Emma is finishing up her elementary education degree with student teaching this semester, and excited for the job search. Emma is hoping to become a reading specialist in a low income school district and really make an impact in the lives of the children she teaches. 

    As Emma pursues her dream of helping children by teaching, she believed the writing center has set her up for countless opportunities because of all the skills consultants practice and perfect. She described her growth as a person and teacher from her work in the writing center as improving her general people skills as well as some teaching specific strategies. She has perfected her craft by slowing down her teaching/conferences when necessary, and posing the writers/students with specific questions that promote thinking and detail orientation. Emma advises current and future consultants to get to know the people you work with and take risks to introduce yourself to people. She has met some people who are now very important to her this way, and she values all the things they have taught her and the support they provide. Her final words of wisdom were "always bring coffee to your shift." Noted. 

    Attention everyone: Emma's favorite thing in the writing center has been stolen. Karla the puppet used to sit and greet students entering the writing center, but mysteriously disappeared one day. Emma loved Karla the puppet because of its odd but comforting and familiar nature. 

Megan Norris

    Megan is really doing it all at Coe with majors in biology and environmental science as well as minors in chemistry and Spanish. Although she is still deciding between research and managing people, she knows that her ultimate goal is to do environmental management work. While doing this work Megan wants to participate in community outreach efforts in an attempt to educate the general public on how to make the world better.

    The writing center has helped her achieve her career and academic goals by improving her communication skills and giving her the opportunity to work with people from so many varying disciplines and perspectives. Along with this, Megan urges current and future consultants to consider it a privilege to work with writers and get insight as to how they think and take on the writing process. She suggested we all have fun with it and learn from everyone we work with. 

    The French vanilla coffee creamer powder was Megan's favorite thing in the writing center. She claims to make the trip to the writing center quite often just for this creamer (I think she just can't get enough of the writing center), and that it is her favorite creamer. Anyways, if you like creamer you'll have to check it out- just make sure to leave some for Megan. 

10 Writing Center Consultants, the Songs I Associate Them With, and How it Can Help you Make your Next Appointment

    We often say that music is the universal language. I'd normally say that this statement is completely untrue, but in other ways I find that music is how we share our moods in a way that transcends language and, in my case, even how I associate moods or feelings with the people I spend time with. And I spend a lot of time with other Writing Center Consultants, so many times when I hear certain songs, I think of them. I think of this as another method of describing the "energy" or "vibe" of my fellow consultants. From the lens of a writing center client, this could mean a better understanding of the personality and specialties of consultants and who could be best to give you your next consultation. Hence, here is a list of 10 consultants, the songs I associate with them, and how it could help you make your next appointment. 

Shannon: The Twighlight Theme Song 

She’s from Washington, no explanation needed. Think of a dark, rainy fall day and you have an old English novel assignment due. You’re feeling dark and moody, or maybe just thinking about vampires for some reason. That is the perfect Shannon consultation.

Kyra: Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood

One time Kyra said she lived in Wisconsin, so now she reminds me of cheese and hunting and country people in general. Kyra’s also a "girl’s girl", and I feel like if you come into a consultation and say your partner cheated on you, she’d help you do everything Carrie Underwood does to her ex’s car in the song. So, if that just happened to you, Kyra is the perfect consultant. 

Adele: Put Your Records On - Corrine Bailey Rae

    Adele's super sweet, I can't think of another better word to describe her and, no, it's not because I'm slow. Imagine a really ridiculously bright singular sun beam streaming down in a really holy way from a cloud and this song playing during great spring weather, because that's what reminds me of a conference with Adele. She has a really cool cardigan and sweater collection too! She's super artsy, so I bet if you bring in an art assignment, she'd be amazing.

                                    

Alli: 7 Summers - Morgan Wallen

        I feel like Alli would go to rodeos and wear a really cute turquoise shell beaded cowboy hat and sing country songs. People might make fun of country singers (unpopular opinion but it's not cool to hate country) but she'd sing them in a cool way. If you have a science report or you're feeling like a cool biology farm girl and thinking about horses and country and those sorts of things, Alli seems like your perfect Writing Center consultant.

AJ: American Idiot - Green Day

    AJ’s super nice (I swear), but she reminds me of the 2014 angsty Tumblr girls my mom banned me from the internet because she was worried I’d start acting like them. For some reason if you have black box-dyed hair or piercings, I feel like she’d match your energy but in a cute way. She works in the night like a cute little angsty nocturnal owl and she has really calming energy, so if you need that sort of moody conference energy for your English or theater assignments because you’ve just procrastinated on a paper till an hour before its due and your sad, she’s perfect.

Karla: El Poeta - Chino & Nacho

Karla told me today that she thinks of herself as a poet like the song says (her favorite), which in so many ways reminds me of the cool snap poetry girl from the sequel of the Goofy Movie (I’ll put a picture of her below). So if you think of a poet, not Edgar Allan Poe poet but more of a really cool and upbeat poet, think of Karla. If you haven’t gotten what I’m trying to say yet, go to Karla if you need a poetry conference.

Gabby: Vienna - Billy Joel

Billy Joel is probably the most wholesome artist ever, if that gives you an idea of how Gabby is as a person. She prefers creative writing conferences (wink wink) and would love to talk to you about your creative writing assignments. If I think of a cloudy/rainy day with moody low lighting in the writing center and sad Billy Joel playing in the background in a reflective kind of way, I’d also think of Gabby.

Kylie Hoy: Good at Breaking Hearts - Jungle

        Kylie reminds me of Taylor Swift Folklore, because she's super upbeat but in a chill way. I couldn't think of any good Taylor Swift songs to encompass her personality, so she told me that this was her favorite song. It's low-key and chill, much like how she is as a person and a lot like how she approaches her conferences. She's a reading queen and would even love to read your long research essays. Thanks for taking one for the team, Kylie! She works at night like a cute reading owl, so come and visit her then with your super long research essays (so I can stick to my cute little narrative essays)!

Emerson: Ophelia - Kiltro

    Emerson listens to hard metal music, but for some reason they told me that this Chilean fold Latin rock song is what "encompasses their vibe". To be completely honest I've never even heard it before, but even just the title and the name of the genre makes me think of Emerson. The song is about loving someone, which reminds me of this one time Emerson helped me write an apology letter to my professor and even though I severely screwed up, they acted like a loving grandparent and didn't make fun of me. Emerson is super philosophical, which is fitting because they told me they love creative philosophy conferences. For example, Emerson said someone came in for a conference with a piece about two people arguing over whether or not a vampire can execute a house arrest with judge permission but not owner permission and they loved it! So, basically, don't give Emerson a boring writing assignment! I'm only kidding; bring her whatever, she's great.

Arianne: 20190724 - Mac DeMarco

        Arianne reminds me of Emerson in the way that they also have an unconventional music taste. Arianne prefers upbeat indie music, but in a not-from-COVID trending era way. Normally I've heard of every upbeat indie song from TikTok, but I've genuinely never heard of this before they told me about it. A lot like their music taste, Arianne tries to make every conference upbeat. They won't make fun of you for tiny mistakes like a lot of us will (kidding), and they use humor to make you all untense even in strict grammar conferences, for example. Arianne's always made me feel comfortable during a conference or even just talking during a shift, so I'm definitely giving a 10/10 recommendation. Go visit Arianne!

    To all you readers who have made it this far, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading this culmination of basically all the weird inner thoughts I have relating to the Coe Writing Center. I hope that this encourages you to make your next appointment or at least gives you some new song recommendations. Please come visit us, I swear we aren't scary!

What to do on a long shift?

 What to do on a long shift?

Whether you work 2 hour shifts, 5 hours, or sometimes even more, there's always going to be times where there's seemingly nothing to do. There are no conferences scheduled, no walk-ins, and no work from Jane. So what do you do? Here's some ideas of how to fill the quiet times on long shifts:

Do some homework

I don't know about you, but having a large block of mostly uninterrupted time is the perfect time for me to get my homework for the next day's classes done. In fact, I'm writing this exact post during a quiet shift! Having a block of time where you just have to sit in the writing center may be the motivation you need to finally get some work done without getting sidetracked. Interesting fact: 100% of the consultants I polled said they use these types of shifts to do some homework! It seems quiet times are really good times to get at least some of your to-do list done.

Check the whiteboard and tables for things needing done or delivered

Most days I come into the writing center, there's something new posted on the whiteboard by the hot water or on one of the tables. (Sadly, only about 1/3 of the consultants polled said they check for tasks needing to be done, much to Jane's ire.) These are usually small tasks like completing a form, delivering CWC's across campus, or even random things like writing thank you cards or organizing a folder filled with past CWC's. If you don't have anything to do, try going around the room and looking for little things that need done.

Pursue your hobby

Do you have a hobby that can be done from the writing center? Writing, gaming, reading, composing music, making mood boards, or something similar? Just like with doing homework, a quiet shift may be the perfect time to pursue this hobby. You can't put it off by saying you don't have time, because you have at least a few hours where you can't leave the writing center, and you have nothing better to do, right? So let loose a little, destress, and have some fun!

Do something fun

Even if you don't have a writing center friendly hobby, you can still do something fun! Read, color, listen to music, fold origami, or just play that game on your phone everyone says is dumb but is mindless and great at wasting time. If nothing else, just let yourself not think about school for a while. 

Check what the question of the week is

Something I always check every shift is the whiteboard and the question of the week. There's almost always some wacky, fun, or hotly debated question for you to answer. These questions can also give your other shift-mates something to do too! After you all answer the question, you can give reasons and passionately debate your stance on the probably-not-so-serious or maybe even stupid question.

Study with a friend

I sometimes use this time to study with a friend. The writing center is quiet and cozy most of the time, so it's great for study sessions with small groups of two or three. Meeting in the writing center is also a neutral place in the middle of campus, so you don't have to worry about meeting in a dorm or far away from any one building on campus.

Talk

Exactly what it sounds like. A whopping 80% of consultants in the poll said they use these quiet times to chat. Is that a good thing? A bad thing? Who knows! All I know from my semester at the writing center is that most consultants are basically just chatty gossip machines! Want to know about everything and anything happening on campus? Just stop by the writing center!

Honorable mentions!

- Scrolling through social media

- Writing fanfiction (I do this too!)

- Meandering through the library for an interesting looking book

- Making coffee or tea

Conclusion

Long shifts can be quiet and boring, but they don't have to be! If you find yourself on a quiet shift with nothing to do, this post just showcases that in the writing center, there's always at least something to do or some task that needs done. Consultants are also very creative people, and even if Jane doesn't have some task for us, we create our own, like homework, funny whiteboards, or even just sharing the latest gossip.