Writing Center assists in many ways

By Buu-Tran Duong
Freelance Reporter

LCC business major Nichole Doyle could not stop smiling as she displayed her President’s List letter for the 2023 fall semester in the LCC Writing Center.

The center is located in the A&S Building in room 2214. Doyle was having a writing appointment with her favorite professional writing assistant, Kim Mathiot, who has been tutoring Doyle for years in brainstorming, revising and writing.

Students sometimes have the misconception that they can only come to the Writing Center for large writing projects and essays. Mathiot has been a writing assistant for more than three years and said she wants to break this misconception.

“If there’s a writing component, we help,” Mathiot said. “That’s our job … whether it’s for a D2L discussion thread or a presentation.”

Professional writing assistant Megan Fila (right) assists student Alena Abrego-Lerma (left) with brainstorming and understanding.  Photo by Buu-Tran Duong

Anna Nyota and Gizele Niyogushima, both Tanzanian nursing students who said they each used the Writing Center at least 25 times last semester, expressed their love.

“The Writing Center has helped me to become a better writer,” Nyota explained. “With the help of my tutor, I am now able to paraphrase.”

Added Niyogushima: “When I was writing one of my essays called, ‘Why do people fear AI,’ the Writing Center was a big help.”

Previous LCC librarian and now writing assistant Susan Murphy shared her favorite explanation of her services.

“I help people gather their thoughts and put them into words to tell their stories,” Murphy said.

Fellow writing assistant Adrian Rios recalled a student asking him “if we can switch brains for a day,” because Rios was helping the student brainstorm the legal logistics of vaping regulations for his argumentative essay.

Writing assistant Kenya Nelson said she makes sure students of different ages do not feel the Writing Center is just for new, young students.

“The oldest student I have is 59,” Nelson said. “He is very sickly. But he’s doing work in the community helping juveniles in the system and is in college. … It’s determination!”

Properly assisting students requires steps. Questions the Writing Center staff members can ask students include, “Who is your audience? What about your topic is misunderstood? What conversations are people having about your topic? What popped up during research that you felt there wasn't an answer to?”

Writing assistant Emily Guild said her favorite question is, “Why did you pick this topic?” because she usually hears interesting stories, such as when she learned a student’s hobby was collecting Petoskey stones, the state stone of Michigan.

Any students struggling with writing a paper, whether argumentative, research, compare and contrast, etc., should consider visiting the LCC Writing Center. The center has serviced over 1,000 students during fall and spring semesters.

The staff assists LCC students of any major, class or year and have even helped students write scholarship essays and personal novels. The team will be happy to help you write!