Charleston’s Student Writing Consultants Connect

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From left to right: Emma Bush, AbbyTummers, Tori Rego, Lauren Findlay, Lori Pimental, Dr. Devet (Director, Writng Lab CofC)

On November 14, 2015, five consultants from the College of Charleston Writing Lab directed by Dr. Bonnie Devet, visited with their cohorts at The Citadel’s Center, led by Dr. Pat Hendrix.  Dr. Hendrix’s Center, located inside the Academic Support Center, offered a spacious layout, encouraging the CofC consultants to meet with their colleagues, as well as to be greeted by Dr. Hendrix’s dog Remi, the center’s unofficial mascot.

Wanting to inform their colleagues about their work, the CofC Writing Lab consultants spoke to Dr Hendrix and his tutors about the different types of clients walking through the Lab’s doors: clients with nothing written (“Starting at Ground Zero” by Tori Rego, English major); clients with writer’s block (Emma Bush, Biology); clients with special emotional problems (“The Seánce Client” by Lauren Findlay, Marketing); clients trying to write a short story (“Fiction Writers” by Lori Pimental, Communication/Creative Writing); and clients who balk at all assistance (“Stubborn Clients” by Abby Tummers, Historic Preservation).

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From Left to Right: Ben Adams (Citadel Tutor), Ed Zur (Citadel Tutor), Lori Pimental, Abby Tummers, Tori Rego, Emma Bush, Lauren Findlay; seated Dr. Pat Hendrix (DIrector, The Citadel Center with dog Remi).

After each presentation, Dr. Hendrix and his tutors—Ben Adams and Ed Zur—acknowledged how they, too, have dealt with similar clients, revealing that students bring the same problems to both the Center and the Writing Lab.

The two Centers also discussed their differences: staffing, assignments that Freshman English students bring to the centers, management of sessions with clients, appointments vs, just walk-in, and record-keeping.

Mixing of ideas always fosters a stronger sense of self and place, showing the tutors of the Citadel and the consultants from the CofC Writing Lab that their concerns for clients are varied but similar, the true mark of a successful cross-pollination of centers. As the CofC consultant Abby Tummers states, “I had a lot of fun talking about our differences and how we can better serve clients on both ends.”