Full docket

All the appointments today went swimmingly. Annabelle was more focused than usual--though she had a minor (and understandable) freak out when she realized that she has to split her attention between two essay assignments in her comp class: she's been given the parameters for the final research paper (more on that in a moment), but before it's due, there will be another essay, which will develop from the in-class midterm that the students just wrote. I helped her understand the progress of the research assignment--that she will need to gather information from her research first and maybe begin creating loose categories of what she finds before she begins drafting it--but I also helped her understand the back and forth between the two assignments.

Next up was a young woman, not a returnee, who mostly wanted help with MLA format (including her works cited page)--and I have to say, after helping a number of students with APA, it was a relief to be back on familiar ground. I then read through her essay very quickly and found sentence-level errors to correct. I mostly just handed her the corrections, which I don't usually do, as time was of the essence. And for the umpteenth time, I said, "So, one of the things you've learned is not to write your essay at the last minute." Heavy sigh.

I then helped a student with the scholarship application he's been working on for about two weeks, and it's finally taking good shape. Along the way, he's learning about eliminating wordiness and about keeping things simple in order to be clear. He is among the thronging hordes who have been taught in high school that paraphraxis is a good thing. Heavy sigh.

He and I finished a teeny bit before the official end of his session, and the next student was a teeny bit late, so I started to provide commentary on a piece of freelance writing for my friend's daughter. I'm impressed that the girl is writing for publication--and real publication, not just student journals--and it's a pleasure to help her. Interesting to shift from that to helping a student with the outline for a reflection paper he's working on. He and I did a lot of brainstorming last week, and he did a good job of turning that into a couple of rough paragraphs. He still needs a thesis statement (not a question), but he's doing well with what he has. Unfortunately, the essay is due early Thursday, so he hasn't given himself much time to write it up and have someone check it over--but he'll try for a drop-in appointment tomorrow and see if he can get some feedback.

Now, I'm in the office waiting for a visit from the Young Zen Master. He wants to talk about transfer to four-year programs in English, which is a shift from where he was last semester, when he was pretty sure he wanted to major in creative writing. But last semester I found out that he hadn't actually done any creative writing or taken any classes in it, so I suggested he do that. He's working with one of our legitimate rock stars, a fiction writer and cartoonist--and I suspect the Zen Master now realizes that there is some hard work involved in creative writing, so he's changed his mind. Or perhaps he just realizes it isn't floating his boat; I may be doing him a disservice. In any event, talking with him about next steps will be a pleasure--assuming he shows up.

And I'm assuming Paul will also arrive eventually, whenever P&B finally wraps up. I always look forward to talking with him, as everyone who knows me knows full well.

And that's kinda the day. I will try to find the oomph to finish up the commentary on my tutee's essay, so I can cross that off my slate for now (until it boomerangs back, which it will very rapidly, this girl being the over-achiever that she is; interestingly enough, it's an article about teen burnout, from which she suffers). Depending on when or whether the Zen Master and/or Paul shows up, I may engage in some office clear-out behaviors (next up: file drawer full of grad school stuff), but I may also opt to simply noodle and fritter. It's all good.