On Packing

So given that in two weeks Coe students will be heading back to campus, I have begun the process of packing. Needless to say, I do not enjoy packing. I don't mind putting things in boxes; its more the inevitable understanding that, once they are in the boxes and in the car, I will have to take them out again eventually. So, this year, I've tried to streamline the process a little bit. Without further ado, then, here are my Packing Do's and Don't's:

DO pack some lounge-wear. When you're hanging out in your dorm, you will want to be comfortable
DON'T pack all of your clothes. This makes moving difficult, and somehow you always end up with more clothes at the end of the year.

DO pack one or two nice outfits.
DON'T pack more than one evening gown. Trust me on this one.

DO bring some decorations
DON'T bring your entire room.

DO buy a planner before you come, so you'll be prepared on the first day.
DON'T buy all your notebooks/binders/pencils/and so on beforehand. Each class is different and will require a different set of materials.

DO buy rain boots. Also buy snow boots. Iowa is very damp.

So there you have it. I pass the wisdom I have gleaned on to you, first-year students, as you prepare for college.

As Always, Your,
Julia

hard work, good luck, red bull

Update from alumna Alice Obrecht, currently working on her PhD at the London School of Economics:

I've been thinking about the writing center a lot lately, for two reasons: one, I think my life would be better if I had a bread makingmachine. Two, exam time is looming here at LSE.

The brilliance of the British system is that students are politely asked to do various chores throughout the year - for example attend class somewhat regularly, participate in discussion, submit written work that is marked and returned to them-but 100% of their grade for a class is determined by a single 3-hour exam sat in a large, often sweltering, hall in June. In this 3 hour exam students are expected to write 3 essays, by hand. There is also a pit of tarantulas they must avoid falling into as they exit the hall. Unfortunately that last part is not true. Yet.

So I am thinking of the WC at the moment, as I always do this time of year. On the one hand, focusing course assessment around written work is a good idea. On the other hand, this way of doing it seems to take the writing process and pump it full of Red Bull and extreme anxiety and the search for the Perfect Essay Structure that can be learned and repeated over and over.

Hence my procrastination in preparing for the revision class I must teach tomorrow (and hence this as another chance at procrastination). But basically I will say what I always say, which is that writing a good philosophy essay is like good cooking or having a good sense of personal style. Outside of some basic guidelines, like don't switch around the salt and the sugar, or don't always expect people to understand the irony of your clothing choices, there is not much to say. You are free.

And it is your choice: will you be inspired by that freedom, or terrified?

Then I will tell them to work hard, and wish them luck, and remind them of the health side effects of drinking too much Red Bull.

She also writes: " I would have liked to send you a picture of me on the boat I'm living on, but forgot to bring my camera with me to school. Perhaps later."

But I've yet to set off the fire alarm!

I keep shocking myself on couches and doorknobs (and Andy, when he's around). Hello, dry Iowan weather. I loves me some static electricity. (The last statement was a lie. I'm sorry.)

I thought I'd write up a list of How Not to Burn Down the Writing Center, possibly based upon personal experience.

1. Do not microwave your socks for three minutes in an attempt to dry them out after a walk in the rain.
2. Clean out the oven before you use it - turns out that food residue left from the previous use starts to smoke when you're innocently trying to make a loaf of bread. Who knew?
   
3. Set the oven to Convection - not to Bake. It prevents the tops of your brownies or muffins from becoming something like charcoal biscuits while the middles remain stubbornly gooey.
4. Don't leave a pot of coffee on a burner and forget about it so it boils dry and the pot cracks/explodes.
5. Um. Don't be a moron, basically.
   

Fortunately, you're all smart, savvy individuals who won't make these same mistakes! And remember, as always, to remain vigilant against nuclear weapons.

- Leta

Getting Paid!

End-of-the-month Reminder:

If you want to get paid, either through scholarship, fellowship or work study, you need to turn in your hours sheets. Record all hours you work - topics counts, so do staff meetings and any off-hours conferences. Green (fellowship) sheets go to Tresa, and pink (work study) sheets go to Katie S. - put them in their WC mailboxes or hand them in directly to Tresa or Katie. Okay.

And...random WC pic o'the day:

FD Reeve is the bomb

F.D. Reeve, on dealing with problems by being a poet:
"I have to write. If you can solve your problems by drinking, do."
Reeve came to the Writing Center and gave a brief lecture this last Thursday. He also read some of his poems. The guy was down to earth. Refreshingly so - he didn't wax sentimental or poetic about being a poet. He didn't strike me as someone who was just literary, with no foot in the real world.
He has a sense of humor, he listened, was easy to talk to. You didn't feel like he was lording anything over you. There wasn't a trace of condescension when he talked, no pretense of knowing the great secrets of writing. He wasn't trendy.
His advice on overcoming writer's block was to drink, and if that didn't work, to translate something into English from another language. Weird. Fantastic.

- Leta

a coffee making reminder

          When using the fancy new red grinder, make sure you hold the cup all the way up on it, so the grounds don't go flying all over.
          Also, when the sound of the grinder changes, getting higher pitched, hit the stop switch; it's not that great for it to run without anything to chew on.
          Before you dump the grounds into a filter, hold the cup under where the grinds come out and whack the dangling plate really hard -- I'm serious, ball up your fist and wail on that thing! Some of the more finely ground beans get caught up in the blades and gum up the machine, which is no good. So vent some frustrations on it! It's therapeutic.

  - Leta

I love the WC retreat

For my first WC blog entry, I shall of course cover our recent retreat to the great Painted Rocks. I don't have permission yet to use people's names, so I'm going with first initial until I do.

Before sundown, several beginner consultants, P and J especially, had proven themselves to be superior pyro-technicians at the resort’s fire pit. Confusion ensued when E opened the hot dog box to find them frozen solid. I took action at this point, and micro-zapped the hot dogs until they could be jabbed onto a stick for roasting over the flames. Feeling very proud of myself, I sat around the fire to socialize with the new and returning consultants.

It’s a difficult thing to meet new people. I know I could have done a better job of making the new consultants feel more comfortable. At the same time, I know that as our new consultants work their hours in the WC, at least my face will be familiar and (I hope) welcoming.

Once the fire died out, most were ready for bed. C had the brilliant idea of bringing her pup tent along and I crashed it for the weekend. Nothing like mounds and mounds of pillows for bedding. Below, please note the photograph of me diligently finishing off a tin of baked beans while basking in the extravagant comfort of her plastic shelter.

Saturday, we practiced conducting workshops, conferencing, and writing short papers more or less simultaneously. As a Writing Center Fellow for a First Year Seminar class (so many proper nouns!), I needed the workshop experience so I could later conduct them for the first years as they prepare their Portfolios.

The night’s festivities was a double feature at a drive in movie theater. Passing cars honked vigourously as families, teenagers, and WC consultants enjoyed the canned scripts of The Clone Wars and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. I personally don’t know whether the success of such terrible writing is encouraging or not. In any case, much tickling and buffoonery ensued. Below, please note some documented merry-making.

We wrapped it up on Sunday with some sage advice passed down from senior consultants to our new recruits (my favorites were from L: always take the comfy chair, never microwave your socks, the WC fish will die), some last revising and conferencing, and the grand finale: the WC skits. My personal favorite was M’s portrayal of Kyn, the Center’s mannequin.

And that was it. My last WC retreat. May the year officially begin.

- Johanna