Writing Center acts as a longstanding resource for students

With finals week approaching soon, students may be looking for all the help they can get and what better place to visit than the Writing Center.

It’s a place that can help you with all of your writing needs, from grammar to punctuation.

“We offer grammar conferences, pre-writing conferences which means as soon as you get your assignment sheet from a professor,” Terry Wright, Writing Center employee, said. “Before you start writing it you can bring that assignment sheet and help you understand what the professor wants.”

At the Writing Center, it doesn’t matter what the subject you need help in is they are happy to help you out.

“It doesn’t have to be for an English assignment,” Wright said. “Any written assignment you can bring in to us, and we are here to support you through the steps of writing it.”

It’s helped people like Emily Vargas pass her midterms with more confidence and ease.

“It was my first time coming here,” Emily Vargas, 20, child development major, said. “I’m glad I did. I feel like I’ll actually have a chance of getting a good grade on my midterm papers now.”

The Writing Center has been apart of EC for some time now.

“They established the writing center about 25 years ago,” Barbara Budrovich, Writing Center coordinator, said. “The department wanted support for the writing classes.”

Students can get help in any writing assignment they may need, whether it’s for school or something more personal.

“We had a student come back and thank us personally for helping them write their transfer application essay,” Wright said.

It can be intimidating walking into a room filled with tutors or professors and ask for help on something, as Leslie Cisneros describes.

“It’s my first time coming here,” Leslie Cisneros, 21, anthropology major, said. “I don’t like asking for help or anything in class. I get shy. I know I have to do things like this to actually get what I’m supposed to do in class.”

Writing Center workers can help with both small, big, or confusing problems that students may face.

“A lot of times I just have students personally say to me ‘Oh, I was confused about this assignment and now I understand what I’m supposed to do,'” Wright said. “There (are) little lightbulb moments that we really like to help students reach.”

It may be hard, but both students and professors recommend students stop by.

“I liked it,” Cisneros said. “My essay makes sense now. I feel like I get what I’m writing about.”

Right, who is also a professor at EC, recommends students to give the Writing Center a chance.

“I try to give students an idea of all the resources that are available to them,” Wright said. “I think it’s so important for professors to really push these resources for their students.”

The Writing Center is open Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Scheduling is up to change.

Editor’s Note: Monday, Nov. 200, 10:44 p.m. Spelling errors corrected.