Observations

On Saturday morning I woke up to a transformed campus. Everything was covered in snow and it continued to fall. I was so excited by the prospect of going out to play that I yelped for joy. Obviously, since I grew up in the Bahamas I never experienced snow until I came to Richmond. However, in the three years since I've been here, this weekends snow fall has been the biggest we've ever had.

Sadly, I couldn't go out right away as I would have liked, in fact, I didn't get a chance to really let loose until after dinner, around 8pm. I headed out to Boatwright Beach to meet up with all the other Bahamians - we had planned a snow party. As we took pictures, ran around and threw snow at one another, I noticed that another group of students had come out to have fun as well. A few of the Bahamians left and what was left of our group merged with the other students. I watched how our interactions with one another and noted how, although we were for the most part strangers, we were able to talk and laugh with one another. Our mutual love for the snow and a desire to take advantage of an atypical kind recreation (at least for UR students on a Saturday night) quickly built up a relationship between us. The students helped us Bahamians figure out how to slide down the beach with dhall trays, sitting, standing and in pairs. They were patient with our questions and our fears and cheered for us whenever we made it down the hill in triumph. We reciprocated this friendly behaviour, encouraging the brave ones in their more daring feats and commiserating with those among them who were a little more timid, like us.

I marvelled at how well we all fit together, as if we had been friends for ages instead of not even an hour. It was a great example of how sport can really bring people together despite realities (such as age or religion) which might prevent them from doing so in any other situation.

On 'What if Drugs Were Legal?'

I thought our class discussion on this person's paper provided us with an insightful look as to what is acceptable writing, a live example of academia's requirement for academic bs. Of course the paper was bad, even terrible, we could all see that, and when I read it beforehand I was just as appalled as everyone else in class. However, I feel as though we may have been too harsh on the writer - we tore his/her paper to shreds! I think the main problems were with grammar and spelling. With some leading questions to get the author to flesh out his/her main idea, I think the paper would be on the swift path to recovery.

Maybe I am just too sensitive or too nice, but I really feel as though we should take a more humble stance when it comes to editing other people's writing. Granted, the student did not come to us for help, but we should still be a little more understanding of what might have been a first draft or what may be a handicap. I think that even in our private moments evaluating papers before our Writing Centre appointments, we should be mindful that an actual person is behind what we are reading, and that they are taking a risk by putting their thoughts out there for us to read. They are looking to us for help and constructive criticism, and we should be mindful of the fact that we are only students and far from experts as we strive to do this.

On Wingate and Perry

I thought Wingate's views on student utilisation of writing centres was a little two-dimensional. There is a lot more to academic success than whether or not one visits the writing centre. I've had discussions with friends about how sometimes the 'key' to getting a good grade in a class is finding the writing style your professor prefers and whatever side of the issue at hand he/she ascribes to and playing those up to the best of your ability. Perry speaks to this when she discusses students trying to use 'academicspeak' and rephrasing arguments they've already read to sound more intelligent and please their professors. Clearly, these nuances are not and cannot be captured with a tutor at the school's writing centre.

Another thing to consider is the natural ability of students, which I believe we discussed in class. Some people are naturally gifted and don't require the services of their writing centre and they do just fine in their classes. I'm not saying these things to discount the importance of the writing centre, just to express the opinion that they are not a surefire way to achieve success.