Ian McMurray Questions: Blog Post #1

Hi all,

I have below two questions that occurred to me as I was perusing the WC literature/Bedford Guide. I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts.

1. Reading the Bedford Guide's section on "The Many Hats Tutors Wear," and specifically the section about "the counselor" role, actually reminded me of an experience I had as an undergraduate tutor. During one of my writing consultation appointments, a student brought in a statement of purpose for a graduate application. The statement focused heavily on the student's history of mental illness and current struggle with intense depression. Of course I support an open dialogue about mental health, however, in this instance, I actually wasn't entirely sure how to proceed. While I valued and appreciated the student's honesty and perseverance, I also found the statement, in a professional capacity, a little disarming; it didn't list the student's qualifications for the graduate program, nor did it explore how the student has sublimated his feelings into positive change or growth (I understand that real life doesn't always follow that tidy narrative of sublimation, but for a statement of purpose, it might have been a good thing to include). I couldn't help but feel that the statement didn't really fit the "needs" of a statement of purpose, but I also had difficulty discouraging the student away from talking through his struggles. I guess my question, then, is a question of strategy: How do you talk to students about a highly sensitive subject in their paper, particularly when that subject isn't exactly "working" to fulfill the parameters of an assignment?

2. My second question is more straightforward and comes from the "Writing Center Tutor's Guide." I confess I'm actually pretty unfamiliar with these writing "invitations" (we didn't use them at my former WC), and I'm interested to hear how they fit into the model of a 30-minute tutoring session - would the majority of that time be used for the student to engage with the invitation? Or should I still reserve some time at the end to discuss their response with them using the feedback model outlined in the half-sheet handout? Are responses collected by tutors? 

Thanks all!

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