For my practicum for Scholars, I worked as a tutor through the University of Maryland Writing Center internship course (ENGL388W). In this course, we participated in a weekly 2.5-hour class where we learned extensively about the proper (and sometimes improper) practice of Writing Center tutoring as well as about writing techniques. About halfway through the semester, the students of the class began both synchronous and asynchronous tutoring in the Writing Center. During my synchronous tutoring shift, occurring once a week on Wednesdays from 1-4, students could schedule a 30-minute or hour-long session to work on whatever piece of writing for which they needed or wanted assistance (essay, resume, etc.) For our asynchronous tutoring shifts, where students could only schedule one-hour sessions, I worked two hours on Mondays to fill out tutoring feedback from a template given to us that would be sent back to the student.
I came upon this internship as I was looking through the schedule of classes on Testudo during the Fall, 2020 semester. Having not obtained an internship to that point, I emailed my professor from ENGL101S (which I took my first semester of freshman year) for more information regarding the opportunity. After she encouraged me to pursue it and informed me of the limited number of tutors currently available at the Writing Center, I decided to enroll in the course to become a tutor. If you are a student looking for an opportunity, especially if it is for the Scholars practicum, do not overlook the resources offered to you at your own school; you do not necessarily have to look at outside opportunities to pursue a fulfilling internship.
Through my internship at the UMD Writing Center, I was able to improve my writing skills in a variety of ways. This was done through the lessons taught in class, our writing assignments for the course, and my tutoring sessions. Aside from an improvement in my writing skills, I learned how to cater my speech or writing to a specific audience, which has helped me grow as a student and future professional. As a public policy major, it is important not only to have good writing skills but to be able to cater that writing or speech to whatever audience I am addressing, whether it is to a political figure or to an important actor involved in a given issue. You can learn more about how I do this by reading one of my pieces of feedback for asynchronous tutoring, which can be found here. My asynchronous advice in particular can provide me with a skill of targeting an audience with advice and information through my writing that can be further utilized as I pursue a career in public policy.
RESUME
In the remaining time that I have at the University of Maryland, I look forward to being able to narrow down by post-graduate aspirations. I hope to go to graduate school to receive a Master's Degree for something policy-related and probably related to criminal justice. I do not want to attend law school as a means to pursuing a policy career related to criminal justice, but getting a Master's Degree will allow me to be able to go to work sooner to be able to make a positive difference in my community/country.
I came upon this internship as I was looking through the schedule of classes on Testudo during the Fall, 2020 semester. Having not obtained an internship to that point, I emailed my professor from ENGL101S (which I took my first semester of freshman year) for more information regarding the opportunity. After she encouraged me to pursue it and informed me of the limited number of tutors currently available at the Writing Center, I decided to enroll in the course to become a tutor. If you are a student looking for an opportunity, especially if it is for the Scholars practicum, do not overlook the resources offered to you at your own school; you do not necessarily have to look at outside opportunities to pursue a fulfilling internship.
Through my internship at the UMD Writing Center, I was able to improve my writing skills in a variety of ways. This was done through the lessons taught in class, our writing assignments for the course, and my tutoring sessions. Aside from an improvement in my writing skills, I learned how to cater my speech or writing to a specific audience, which has helped me grow as a student and future professional. As a public policy major, it is important not only to have good writing skills but to be able to cater that writing or speech to whatever audience I am addressing, whether it is to a political figure or to an important actor involved in a given issue. You can learn more about how I do this by reading one of my pieces of feedback for asynchronous tutoring, which can be found here. My asynchronous advice in particular can provide me with a skill of targeting an audience with advice and information through my writing that can be further utilized as I pursue a career in public policy.
RESUME
In the remaining time that I have at the University of Maryland, I look forward to being able to narrow down by post-graduate aspirations. I hope to go to graduate school to receive a Master's Degree for something policy-related and probably related to criminal justice. I do not want to attend law school as a means to pursuing a policy career related to criminal justice, but getting a Master's Degree will allow me to be able to go to work sooner to be able to make a positive difference in my community/country.