Current graduate students

Long, long ago when I was young and dependent, my parents would nag about the state of my bedroom: it rarely met their standards of tidy. I would challenge their unrealistic ideals by questioning them. When this failed to help my cause I would shove everything under the bed.

Why do my clothes need to be put away? I’m going to wear them eventually; why must the bed be made? I’ll be sleeping in it again, tonight; who am I hurting? Why does this “who” care?

During my undergraduate years at the University of Toronto, I took a class on a Roman poet named Catullus. For a long semester I laboured over his poetry, trying to wrestle his sophisticated Latin phrases into easy English.  From all the hundreds of lines of his poetry that I worked on, one word stands out in my memory: palmulas.

I was standing next to someone at the crosswalk out in front of South Campus Hall and I noticed the word “Forward” tattooed across her ankle. Single words inked on skin are a huge trend right now, and a quick search shows that the words people choose represent a summary of life goals, belief systems, or ideals.  

One of the things we do at the Writing Centre is show you the tools available online that can help you develop your writing skills. Here are ten of my favourites.

Drop-in hours at the libraries are best spent helping students with their assignments. What I like most about being a tutor is that I am constantly reminded that I have an entire work term of no homework. I’m living in the world of education’s liminal space: sitting on the sidelines not being affected!

Using a Pen to Get Past Writer’s Block

As I sit staring at my laptop, little black characters march neatly across the screen.

Did you miss attending our Open House on September 16? You missed some great food, excellent information, and having some fun with words. We asked our visitors to tell us about their writing habits on our Writing Centre mural. Below are some samples of what was written.

This is our blog – welcome. We are literally buzzing in our seats anticipating all of the writing we will have to do to keep everything here looking fresh. Our co-ops are English professionals so they don’t mind.