Writing an essay is one thing, but writing an effective essay with impact can be challenging. I’ve struggled countless times to write essays with cohesion and deep analysis put into it. Starting an essay can be a frustrating experience for me, at times it feels like the only option is just throwing things in the wall to see what sticks and I know I’m not alone when it comes to this situation. My rough relationship with writing was a main factor as to why I was intrigued by checking the Hunter Rockowitz writing center. I assumed the writing center was just there to give tips and simple writing formats for students to follow, I didn’t really have any expectations. I’ll be telling you my experience with the writing center, the good, the bad, and to see if it fulfilled my expectations.
The Web Experience
I checked the website for more information, the website explains and gives you insight as to how this resource can help you, Stating the goals being “to improve students’ reading and writing processes, how they engage texts and write papers, and in the effort help students actively participate in their own education and to appreciate the educational value of all the courses offered in the college’s curriculum” (Hunter Rockowitz Writing Center). I found the website to be pretty unpleasant to navigate. The website did a poor job showing you how to make an appointment. I had to type up Hunter writing center appointments in order to make one instead of it just being on the website presentable for everyone to see, it was only till after I learned that it was shown in a subcategory in the students section. I felt it should’ve been shown in the homepage of the website, and even if it was in the homepage, it shouldn’t be a searching game to find it. Besides that I knew the best way to experience the writing center was to of course get help from the writing center. In order to book an appointment, you’d need to make an account using your hunter college email. After that it’s only a matter of picking whether I’d take it online or in person and what tutor to work with and the time slot. I had a pretty easy experience with booking the appointment. I picked Ana for an in person chat in the afternoon since I had no classes at that time.
Appointment Time
When the day finally came, I went to the 7th floor at the library and I took a seat around the lounge area. The tutoring center is broken down into different color strips, each color representing the different departments and their designated spots. I explored a bit on my own to learn that the writing center was represented by the orange color. With the little time I spent sitting and checking, it was overall a pretty quiet room, sometimes there was chatter between a couple of students but that was as noisy as it got. When the time struck two o ‘ clock, the people in the front booth guided me to the booth where I’d be talking to Ana.
Me and Ana greeted each other, she started off by telling me what I needed help with. I told her jokingly how I needed help with writing an effective blog post about the writing center that didn’t drag itself or the reader. She was surprised with what I was asking for but she was eager to help, she started off by telling me questions about why I chose the writing center as my topic for the blog post. I stated “I chose the writing center because I felt I was going to use this resource in the future, but also because it just fits well with the class I needed to write the blog for”. I then elaborated that it was for my English 120 class. I then asked her for her reasons as to why she chose the writing center. She told me how she was deciding on a film major but instead she found it more fulfilling to teach others writing skills and she plans to teach abroad. The conversation turned to this great back and forth, asking questions about the writing center. She reassured me that “the writing center doesn’t spoon feed students writing tips and information but instead they try to lead the students to a direction they feel satisfies their writing assignment the most” (Ana). That’s one of the things I worried about when checking the writing center and I’m glad I got the answer I wanted. Ana also told me her experience working at the center and how it’s a great place to focus on work in general. When it finally came time to talk about the blog post, since I was writing a blog post and not a standard essay, Ana gave me the advice to check out editorials from NY Times magazines. From my own personal checkings, the editorials are structured to be short articles that get their point out in the first few paragraphs, this form of writing is being used to help write this very blog post and I feel is a lot more flexible than a standard three to five paragraph essay. After taking in the feedback, the appointment was finished and I had a better picture as to how I would write the blog post.
My experience with the Hunter Rockowitz Writing Center was overall positive. My only negative experience with it was navigating through the main website, but everything else went by very smoothly. The tutors were eager to help with any issues students have with their writing assignments and are of course the best part about this experience. The room is also just relaxing and is a great place to finish any remaining work. I didn’t even mention the many extras that come with the writing center, like weekly tutor sessions and online sessions for those who prefer to get advice through online interaction. I didn’t use those resources because I tend to learn better in person but that doesn’t mean it can’t be helpful to others. I would say the writing center did exceed my expectations and I would recommend it to others.
Work Cited:
Ana. Personal interview. 27 September 2023.
Design, Twenty Six. Hunter College Rockowitz Writing Center, hunter.mywconline.com/schedule.php. Accessed 27 Sept. 2023.
Rockowitz Writing Center – Hunter College, www.hunter.cuny.edu/rwc. Accessed 27 Sept. 2023.
Rollison, Jude. “The Who, What, When, Where and Why Q&A of the Acting Director of the Dr. Murray and Anna C. Rockowitz Writing Center at Hunter College– Part 1.” The WORD, hunterword.com/index.php/rockowitz-reading-writing-center-rocks-for-students-by-jude-rollins-2022/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2023.
