Fifth Consultation Experience

Today's consultation was probably the one I enjoyed the most. The writer came in very eager to discuss her paper and to get feedback, which got me excited to help her. I realized that when the writer is excited about her writing, it makes it easier for the consultant to also be excited and ready to help in anyway possible. The student came in with just part of her paper written, because she was not exactly sure where to go with the rest of her ideas. She really did prove to have an understanding of the writing assignment as she was able to explain the assignment clearly to the consultant and me. She was convinced, however, that is a "terrible writer". Yet, her paper was very well written and it conveyed her thoughts very well. She was not trying to sound too academic, which worked out well because it made her ideas clear and straightforward. The consultant then helped her to generate the rest of her ideas for the remainder of the paper, and the writer was really appreciative of that. I realized today that just allowing the student to talk and explain things to the listener really helps to explain things to student as well.

After the consultation, I asked the consultant about how she deals with "traditional" and "non-traditional" schools. She reiterated a lot of what some of the articles mentioned in terms of the eagerness and the preparedness of the "non-traditional" students. She shared some of her experiences with consulting a student from the School of Continuing Studies. She said that all the students she had encountered from SCS came in on their own will, ready to work, and they were just happy to be there. She also mentioned that she did not find it awkward at all to assist such students because she has never felt out of her comfort zone around adults. I then asked her about ESL students versus students who grew up speaking English. She said that she spends a little more time helping ESL students with their grammar than she would with an English-speaking student, simply because there is a barrier there. I talked to her about my concerns with helping an ESL student particularly and my fear of possibly offending them. However, she did assure me that it is scary and frustrating at first, but with practice, it gets easier to understand their struggles and the best way to assist them. It was helpful to hear this from someone who has experienced working with ESL students, and it kind of relieved me a bit.