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I work in the Michigan State Writing Center for about 13 hours every week. In this time, I generally see about 8 or 9 different clients (in earlier weeks I see fewer, during finals week I can see upwards of 15). I enjoy working with students from so many different backgrounds, and helping them achieve better writing skills.

At the Writing Center, our goal is not to improve a single paper; it’s to improve the writing skills of our clients, who therefore improve their own papers.

Today, I met with a girl about a research paper on problems with prison release in the US. She was very insightful. Although the paper was not yet complete, she explained about the difficulties of bringing ex-prisoners back into the world and re-emerging them back into society. Some states have created programs to try and help this re-emergence, such as half way houses. Others just impose stringent laws that prohibit prisoners from participating in jobs that require licensing and make it difficult for them to receive housing. It’s no wonder that felons without a strong support system outside of prison sometimes re-offend, and go back to a place of free housing on tax payer dime.

She explained two of her own ideas to help solve this problem, with an educated and well supported documentation. I talked about transitioning between paragraphs and making sure that all of her cited evidence is supported by her own ideas. In the end, the consultation took less than 40 minutes, a rarity for hour long consultations. She made notes as we continued through her paper that marked where she should improve her transitions. It was like watching a writer evolve over years of school training.

As she got up to leave, she said, “Thank you so much. I felt like last time I came here, my problems were fixed but not explained. This was much more helpful.”

I’m glad to know that even though she came in with a paper with well thought out ideas and structure, I still could help her become a better writer.