Helping ESL Students

One thing that attracts me about the University of Richmond is that students are not divided up based on their ethnic backgrounds and whatnot. The University does well to integrate the student body, and I think that having one Writing Center for the student body works well in integrating students. For me, it would be saddening if the University found new consultants for ESL students because it would really be a division of sorts between students. Working with different students from different walks of life benefits everyone involved, because the consultant learns how to handle different students and the student learns how to seek help from people who are different. It is all a cultural and educational experience.

In Monday's class, someone said that maybe it would be nice to have Japanese consultants for Japanese students and so on. However, I think that may send a negative message, as if saying "Your problems are too big for an English student to help you with". What if a Japanese consultant let a Japanese student off easy because they didn't want to make the student feel bad? The student would not really be benefitting. The Writing Center should be a place where everyone involved with it in one way or another should benefit, and assigning students to different consultants based on their background would defeat that purpose. Every person struggles with writing in one way or another, and they all deserve the same help available!