June 2003

Briefly speaking: Center helps students hone writing

With startling regularity, newspaper articles inform parents that today's students don't know how to write. They ratchet up the fear by reminding us that most jobs require good writing skills, both to secure the job and to be promoted.

UC Davis offers many writing courses, some required based on test scores, others open to everyone. The goal is to help every student become comfortable with the writing that will be required in his or her profession. And whether your student is a competent writer seeking to excel or an emerging writer, still struggling, the Learning Skills Center can also help.

	Ryan Grant, who continues to get writing help through the Learning Skills Center, is now a math tutor there. (Julia Ann Easley/News Service)

Sophomore Ryan Grant thinks so. A biological sciences major looking to become a doctor or physical therapist, Grant says, "I find the sciences easier, but I still enjoy English. I don't think I would have enjoyed English as much if I hadn't had help."

Ellen Abrams, a writing specialist and writing programs coordinator, met with Ryan weekly when he was taking an entry-level composition class in his first year. Later, when he fearlessly enrolled in "Love and Desire in Contemporary Poetry," he asked for her help much less often.

"For me, it was an organizational thing," he explains. "I have everything in my head. I just need to organize it." At the center he learned to narrow his topic, group closely-related ideas and carefully edit his rough draft.

"Our goal," says Abrams, "is not just to make the paper better. It's to make the students more independent and stronger in their own skills. It's very important to us to be part of the teaching mission, not part of the fixing mission."

Teaching a person to write well involves giving feedback, so the center is ideal for the student who is motivated and willing to devote extra time. He or she will be able to sign up with student tutors or professional writing specialists for help with papers in courses from anthropology to engineering, as well as special projects, such as personal statements and scholarship applications.

One of the best known resources on campus, the center also offers workshops and individual help in the subjects of math, science and English as a second language; and in study skills including time management, note-taking, reading strategies, test-taking and reducing test anxiety.

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