By Huda Imran
The Writing Center is no stranger to new tutors, but with every academic year that passes, we are confronted with the bittersweet reality of many of our tutors graduating, leaving behind beautiful memories that continue to blossom long after their departure. This year, 14 Writing Center tutors graduated, from majors including Computer Science, International Studies, English Language and Literature, and Industrial Engineering.
Our Writing Center embodies the spirit of a diverse, interdisciplinary environment, and regardless of their major, each of our graduating tutors have helped countless students along their writing endeavors. Their invaluable years of experience continue to pave the way for new generations of tutors, inspiring a community that cultivates passion, enjoyment, and resilience through the journey of writing. Alongside their commitment to sessions with tutees, many of our graduating tutors have been involved with other aspects of the Writing Center, such as organizing workshops, facilitating events, and even editing previous issues of this InkBlot journal!
We spoke to a few of our graduating tutors, and here are some memorable quotes about their experiences at the Writing Center:
“Going to miss the hangouts with my fellow tutors and friends, the random quick chats with my tutees around campus, and the environment that the Writing Center has created for us” – Mohamed Alshafai
“There’s a lot to cherish at the Writing Center and I enjoyed every bit of it. I made sure to diversify what I dabbled in and took a little bit of everything over 5 semesters – editing for InkBlot, hosting workshops, doing research, fellowing, and engaging with the community. I think it is also insightful that I remember so many random details from student papers, find myself remembering fun facts, and recalling that they were from a Writing Center session. I’ll miss the tutors, and I wonder if they accept appointments from alumni” – Amaan Siddiqui
“I’ll miss the sense of community that we had at the Writing Center. It is incredibly supportive, and oh-so-wholesome. I also made several new connections through my tutorials, and I could spot more and more familiar faces around campus over my two semesters as a tutor. Super grateful for our Writing Center family. What I learned and will take forward is patience, the courage to express my ideas, and interacting with people from all sorts of backgrounds. These are life skills that I had the fortune of learning at the Writing Center, and I will definitely take this forward with me into my corporate career” – Maitri Dharmendra Lalai
“What I’ll miss most about the Writing Center is walking in for my shift and seeing the familiar faces of the WC tutors. I loved the occasionally deep but mostly witty conversations we had before or in between our shifts. On the other hand, meeting new tutees every day from different backgrounds, majors, and ages was also always refreshing and fascinating” – Iman Khan
Here is a tutor spotlight, written by Soha Abdalgawad, one of our longest serving tutors at the Writing Center!
Hi, my name is Soha Abdalgawad. I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, and I have been working at the Writing Center since Fall 2022. My role involved peer tutoring students for their writing assignments, submitting summary reports for sessions, designing material for the social media account of the Writing Center, and delivering workshops. I really enjoyed gaining knowledge about students’ different writing styles, topics, and seeing the students’ satisfied and relieved faces after accomplishing their writing assignments. There are so many lessons I learnt throughout my journey, but here are a few of them:
- Everyone has a unique writing style that cannot be imitated.
- Writing is a skill that combines the skills of speaking, listening, and reading.
- Unless you enjoy the topic you are writing about, you can rarely produce an excellent piece.
Overall, I am blessed to have been part of the Writing Center community. The heart-felt recognition from the students, attending their sessions, and benefitting is the cherry on top.
Congratulations to Amaan Siddiqui, Anegha Sajan, Carol Bebawy, Iman Khan, Jumana Bakr, Maitri Dharmendra Lalai, Malak El-Farra, Mariam Al Khayatt, Mohammed Alshafai, Nadine Ayoub, Salma Amer, Salma Hamdy, Shahd Jamal, and Soha Abdalgawad! We will miss you, and hope to see you at the Writing Center in the future – stay tuned for a potential alumni event everyone!