undergraduate students

In October, I attended the International Writing Centers Association conference in Baltimore, as a peer tutor working for the University of Waterloo’s Writing and Communication Centre. It was the culmination of many months of work, ending with my fellow tutors and I presenting a roundtable discussion on “Embodied Multiversalism in WC Staff: Fear vs Fundamental Duty to Social Justice.”

Last month, my fellow Arts First peer tutors and I travelled to Baltimore to host a roundtable discussion at the annual conference for the International Writing Centre Association. Our presentation was on “Embodied Multiversalism in WC Staff: Fear vs Fundamental Duty to Social Justice”. We discussed our experiences navigating the often exclusionary world of academia, and considered how tutors can best support the students who come for writing assistance.

"The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something." - Randy Pausch

University can be overwhelming; here are a few tips to help make things easier for you!

Get Organized

1. Plan ahead

Remember those “syllabuses” that your professors mentioned on the first day of classes? Perhaps you looked at them once or printed them out and they are crumpled at the bottom of your bag… If you haven’t already, dig them up and be sure to get acquainted with your syllabuses! Syllabi? Whatever you choose to call them, they are your maps to a well-organized semester.

September can bring many things: a new school, a new term, a new adventure or a new job. As the leaves are just starting to change, you may be too. A new school year can mean new goals, expectations, discoveries and challenges. As a student heading into my third year of studies, September represents a chance to get back on track and refocus. After a summer of working at the Writing and Communication Centre and seeing so many students achieve their own academic goals, face their own challenges and learn new things in their field, I’m excited to do the same.

I bet you communicate with someone somehow every day without thinking too much about it.  You text your friends, call your parents, speak with people in class, and use many other forms of communication within your daily life.  However, when you go to email your prof to set up a meeting, or go to ask them a question after class I bet you are just a little nervous almost every time.  You make excuses for not asking your questions; you make your questions sound less important, less needed, or even down right dumb.  Most students make their questions seem unvalued or unreasonable: “I don’t want

At the beginning of the Fall 2015 term, many first year students wrote the English Language Proficiency Exam (ELPE). The results are now in! If you have not received an email in your UWaterloo email drop box, please contact elpp@uwaterloo.ca. Here are some answers to questions you may have:

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.