Blog

As a student within the humanities studying Professional and Creative Writing, the future can be uncertain and frightening. The basis of this uncertainty stems from a suspect that has become a staple in conversations throughout academia and the larger world itself: Artificial Intelligence. 

For the past two months, I have been working at The Writing and Communication Centre here at UW and I have been reminded of one of the main pillars of writing: community! Sharing written works, from lab reports to poetry, promotes discussion, evokes feelings, and leads to inspiration to write more. Even at an individual level— almost all visitors have told me they do write for themselves in private— writing acts as an introspective, personal experience that helps one realize their own voice. This is especially true for free writing. This act, one which I partake in, helps build the confidence to go forth and join that greater writing community. Building confidence in your own work will, in turn, help you develop resilience to criticism when sharing it with others and receiving feedback.

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.

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.”

When I first started my undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo, one of the biggest challenges I faced was learning how to bridge the gap between the writing skills that I brought with me from high school and the writing skills that were expected of me in university.   

What are English Conversation Circles? A few months ago, I had no idea, but when I started working at the Writing and Communication Centre (WCC) one of my roles was to facilitate the English Conversation Circles (ECC) program. I assumed ECC would be a program that Individuals used to strengthen their English conversation skills, and I was excited to be a part of this support team. Once I started working on the program, I learned quickly that ECC is a support system for international students here at UW.

So, you’re looking for ways to stay connected with the student community while getting schoolwork done. Joining a writing group seems to be the best fit because it looks like fun and a great way to meet others in university. But what exactly are writing groups and are there any benefits to being part of one? 

I know it can be scary to begin university, and in my case, being an international student meant that I was going to be away from family and friends, or in other words, home…

Going digital is the new normal. This could be about moving in-person services to the virtual space or adjusting from on-location work to remote work. As the world is adapting to the pandemic by transitioning online, we must also adapt our skills and job search to this change as well. This includes having to do co-op placements or jobs at home on your computers and having to be interviewed for those positions virtually with answers that highlight your digital skills.

Below we have compiled some key interview questions with helpful answers to get you through the interview successfully.

Last semester, Nikolay Videnov won the Best Presenter award at the University of Waterloo and the University of Strathclyde’s Virtual Research Colloquium. We love to see UW students succeed at presentations, so we thought we’d reach out and have a short conversation about how that presentation came together, and to pick Nikolay’s brain about the process.  

A few weeks ago Elise Vist wrote about how tough writing is right now as part of her blog post about how to get the most out of the WCC’s Virtual Writing Cafés. Like many of you, I’m finding certain aspects of working from home challenging; it’s tougher than ever to research and write. But there is still writing to do: I have blog posts, grant proposals, and online workshops to finish and you might have course assignments, journal articles , or a dissertation to work on.