By Natalie Nohr | Contributor
On Monday, the Writing Center's Academic Coaching Center opened in the KSAC.
Located in KSAC 105, the new Coaching Center can be used for meeting with Academic Enrichment tutors or Writing Center consultants, and for personal study space.
"We think it will be a much more convenient space especially for student athletes since a lot of them can't make it back over to the library between practice and meals," said Kelsey Mitchener, assistant director of the Writing Center.
Mitchener stated that the idea behind the addition of the Coaching Center was to better accommodate the lives of student athletes.
"(The Academic Coaching Center) is right (in the KSAC), and a lot of students study in that space anyway . . . so we think that it'll be easier for them to pop in and get help when they need it," Mitchener said. "And it opens a couple new hours. . . . We have such a large freshman class this year that we've added more hours to our schedule."
Freshman cross country runner Micah Bragg believes that the Coaching Center will encourage athletes to take advantage of the new Writing Center services simply by being in the KSAC.
"The Center will be there, staring them in the face every day as they walk into practice, reminding them to use it," Bragg said. "The recognition it gives to athletes for their hard work and long hours of practice inspires us to be truly successful student athletes."
According to Mitchener, the Writing Center has also added student consultants with athletic backgrounds who can relate to other student athletes.
With these additions, students can now sort their consultants by specialty.
"When you sign up online on taylor.mywconline.com, you have the option to sort your tutors by focus area or specialty. So you can see a tutor that focuses on expository papers or loves to work with APA," Mitchener said. "You don't have to do it that way, but if you really wanted to work on brainstorming, and you wanted to see a student consultant that really enjoyed brainstorming you could narrow it down that way."
The Writing Center seeks to aid students in their reading and writing assignments. Consultants can help students in outlining, interpreting meaning in reading, summarizing and fine-tuning their writing skills.
Senior RJ Leannah said that the Writing Center consultants have helped her in the past, both with class papers and internship statements. She believes that the Center has helped her refine all of her writing.
However, lead Writing Center consultant and senior Caroline Nurkkala says it has the potential to do so much more.
"When students come to college, 90 percent of (them) have come out of the five paragraph writing thing, and that really pigeon-holes them in their way of thinking," Nurkkala said. "So we want to help students to not only write better, but also to think better. And hopefully, eventually, to also enjoy the writing process. (We) want them to be skillfully and confidently equipped."
Students wishing to take advantage of Writing Center or Coaching Center services should go to taylor.mywconline.com to sign up for an appointment, or visit the Writing Center Facebook page.
The Coaching Center is currently open Monday 7-9 p.m., Tuesday 1-3 p.m. and 7-9 p.m., Wednesday 7-9 p.m. and Thursday 7-8 p.m. Athletes wishing to log study table hours can do so in the Coaching Center during these hours.
