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Your peers are your best critics. If you’re afraid of asking help from someone too high up the food chain, know that the Writing Center tutors are there specifically to help you. They know the mistakes students tend to make because they are students themselves, and they know how to work through them based off of personal experience. There’s no problem you have that they haven’t faced before.
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Writing tutors aren’t there to judge you. Their job is purely to help you learn and grow as a writer. They will walk you through whatever you need, and no question you have is “stupid” or “wrong.” Writing tutors will take it as slow as you need, and explain things as in-depth as you want.
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The Writing Center is incredibly accessible. There are set hours for nearly every day of the week, and someone is always there to help you. They even have walk-in hours if you don’t have time to schedule an appointment. These tutors have been trained to be the best of the best, and they’re there to help you. The Writing Center is always open to any student, and they will help you with whatever you need. You’re always welcome at the Writing Center, no matter what!
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Other students have had the same problems. Chances are, no matter what the paper you’re going to hand the tutor looks like, someone else has come to them with the same thing before. Your problems are not insane nor unsolvable, and the tutor will typically know how to help you.
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The prompt isn’t always as clear as it seems. Sometimes, the way things are phrased in the prompt don’t read the same to everyone. It’s good to have someone else to read over it and talk to you about it, just so you’re clear on what the assignment entails. A peer knows how prompts can read better than anyone, and they can work through it with you word by word.
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Having a second set of eyes never hurts. Having someone to look over your work can always be helpful. Sure, you can hand it off to a friend, but why not go to someone who was trained to help you? They are there for that reason and that reason alone, and they’ve been trained to help you with anything you need. Even if your paper is the best it can possibly be already, it never hurts to have someone look over it just to give a few comments and ensure your paper is ready to go.
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Peer tutors are not editors, nor teachers. Peer tutors are there to help you learn and improve your writing overall. No one is perfect, and everyone can use improvement (even tutors themselves a lot of the time), so even if you’ve been to the Writing Center before, it’s good to go consistently and to continue growing.
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There are no “stupid” students, so it’s impossible to make you one by coming to the Writing Center. Students from all walks of life come to the Writing Center to have their papers edited: all genders, majors, and ages come to the Writing Center to get the help they both need and deserve. No stigma applies here because the demographics are so diverse: everybody needs help, and there’s no shame in accepting it when offered.
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There are tons of Writing Center tutors. Each one of them is different, with a unique perspective to help you with all kinds of projects. Not every writing tutor is an English major, and even if they are, every English major has had a different experience. Even if one particular writing tutor doesn’t mesh with you, you can schedule an appointment with a different one at any time.
The Writing Center is made for this very purpose. If you’re not coming by, what are we doing? Certainly not our jobs. We’re all there to help you!