Around the World at the Writing Center

The scholarship program at Truman is a funny thing; for the first year, the money is yours, no strings attached. It's your hard-earned reward for a high school career of getting good grades and joining a bunch of clubs that have little to no interest to you. As a freshman, you feel entitled to that dough. With all the colleges competing for Truman-caliber students, you feel like the school owes you that money, in unmarked bills please.

Photo from: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HWU3wX2cDLQ/R8NG70z6TnI/AAAAAAAAB2A/aAQSUgFkrDY/s400/tsingtao_beer_in_a_bag

Midway through my freshman year, I found out that things were about to change. Next year, the free money would come with a price. Somehow, I had never received the vital piece of information that I was going to have to earn that scholarship. I was in the Student Union Building at the time when a friend informed me of this inconvenient truth, and I recall that the french fries I was munching on immediately lost all their trans-fatty taste. Working was something I had planned to do after college.

So I did the only thing I could: applied for a job at the writing center. I decided working the desk at Missouri Hall would involve far too much card-swiping, and as an English major, improving the writing of others seemed to me to be a noble aim. I started work my sophomore year, and at the end of two semesters, I won the Busy Bee Award (for doing the most appointments). It was hectic at times, but the excellent free candy selection and my love for writing helped me get through it.

One of the best things about working at the writing center has been the clients themselves. Many times, they are ESL (English as a Second Language) students who need help with those tricky a's and the's, among other things. I tend to work with a lot of the Asian population, and after spending 5 weeks in China over the summer, I can't help but ask where in zhong guo they are from. This usually evolves into a sometimes 10-15 minute long conversation, which has us talking about anything from the micro-economics of China to Tsingtao beer served in clear plastic bags. I've met students from Qingdao, Chengdu, and Hong Kong, as well as other parts of China, and they all have different stories to tell.

These conversations constantly renew my desire to return to the Far East. In Kirksville, Mo., you'd think it would be easy to be separated from the global community, but I don't even have to leave my chair at work. Truman's efforts to diversify the student body have, for me at least, led to a broader understanding of the people's of the world, in addition to making some new, interesting friends.