Second Trip to Boys and Girls Club

The second trip to the Boys and Girls Club was not as great as I hoped it would be. I was a bit flustered and worried about my own personal problems before going to the Club, and it had an effect on my whole mood. So, honestly, I did not feel like being at the Boys and Girls Club. When we finally got there and started working with our student, Sherzel and I quickly caught on to the fact that our student was not as enthusiastic about the project as she was the first time we met her. First of all, she did not have her folder that had all her information in it, so we could not help her with her script. We tried to help her with other parts of her project, but she continued to say that we helped her with what she needed and she would finish the project with her mom. Her objection to our help and the slight attitude she had added on to my frustrations, and I was honestly ready to just get up and give up. That is when Professor Dolson stepped in saved the day. She talked to the student and got her thinking, which really helped to get her to be a little more positive in the end.

The experience taught me something that I think is very valuable when working as a consultant. I realized how important it is for me to leave my personal problems at the door when I walk into the Writing Center, because students seeking help do not need and should not pay for my own problems, and it will definitely have an impact on how I help students. I also learned that when a student is somehow disinterested in the assignment they are seeking help for, it is important, as a consultant, to learn what the problem is and to find a way to attack it. With Sherzel and my student, her lack of enthusiasm was a result of the fact that she felt like the guidelines of the project (including the interview questions) were too strict and did not allow her to do what she wanted with her project. It was hard to find a way to tackle the problem, but I think Sherzel and I were able to help her a little, and I was able to learn valuable lessons from the session!