The Reading and Writing Center at Brigham Young University–Hawaii can be a valuable resource for students. Dafka Yadamsuren, sophomore in social work from Mongolia, said, "I go there for help with writing my papers. It is really helpful to me."
Melanie Roy, a senior in IDS from California, said of the center, "I actually think it's a really useful resource that we have on campus." Roy spent a lot of time in the center for an English class. She explained, "In my experience, the tutors have always been able to point something out to me that I didn't know before." Eliza Hanza, a junior in EXS from Hawaii, said, "It helps a lot of people, especially second language speakers."
The Reading and Writing Center opens early and closes late to work around students' schedules. Jacob Contor is a senior in English from Hawaii and is also a Lead Tutor for the center. He explained, "We are open late because most classes are done at six, and so students who are still in class, then, can come. We are also open during class time so that students who are on a break from classes can come." The Center is open on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:40 a.m. until 11 p.m.; Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:15 a.m. until 11 p.m., except for an hour on Tuesday for a staff meeting, between 4-5 p.m.; Fridays from 8:40 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tutor sessions last 30 minutes and are preferred by appointment, though walk-ins are accepted.
The tutors at the center have to keep up with a strict set of procedures to meet the high qualifications of the job. Responsibilities include tutoring students, staff projects and certification, caring for the center's library, making appointments, planning workshops, workshop tutorials, online grammar programs, as well as evaluating their own tutorials and writing papers about them. "I am a lead tutor, so that means I am in charge of Reading/Writing Center improvement. And that is a project," Contor explained. He continued, "Certification requires that we record tutorials and ask the students to do things for us, like fill out quality control surveys."
Tutors for the center explained that the perks and challenges of the job were rewarding for them. "What is always nice is feeling confident as a tutor and having a receptive tutee," expressed Hanza. She explained, "You have to be alert, which sometimes in college is hard with so many classes. It can be a challenge but it is a good one."
Meghan Harrison, a junior in English from Idaho explained that being a tutor, "can be a mentally draining job." She said, "I really like the environment here and that we are a helping facility. Because of that, I feel like I am contributing and there is a helping spirit that I can keep with me throughout the day."
The tutors will not write the papers for the students but are there to help students learn to edit their own papers and to become better writers. "We ask a lot of open ended questions so that the student will be the director of the tutor session rather than us controlling it," explained Harrison. She continued, "If you come in with a specific idea in mind, we talk about that with you."
--Photo by Nathan Williams