Tutorers as Counselors

   I've just recently climbed aboard the writing tutoring train this past November and it has been great so far! "It's a piece of cake" was my mindset when applying for the position but it is much more...interesting than what I expected.
   I am a graduate student in Rehabilitation Counseling and as I started getting into the motion of tutoring, I realized that this environment was that of a one-on-one session from a counselor! Building rapport, empathizing, listening to their problems and solving them, the whole 9 yards. It brings me great joy to help people and little did I know, this job is perfect practice for someone who is fresh out of undergraduate level of schooling with little experience of counseling.
   Although, not many people that walk through that door are the happiest campers on campus. Procrastination gets the best of most students and of course, we as tutors are expected to help in any way possible for the sake of the assignment. However, students come in with the mindset that we have to fix their last-minute-written paper rather than improving their skills as a writer; if we don't, we endure the wrath of a stressed out student who tries to give all the reasons for extending a session. This is where it becomes challenging. But hey, I never worked in customer service and now, I feel I can conquer the world of sales!
   I initially thought that I could/will fix every student's paper that was placed on the table, the same thing I thought of when entering the counseling program. Tutoring and learning in school made me realize that not everyone that walks through that door gets help, and that's okay. We are here to improve the person's writing ability, not the paper they strive to get the A on. This has been an awesome experience so far, and I'm grateful to have a wonderful UWC staff that guides and supports us every step of the way.