UW-Madison Overview

I'm back safe and sound in Cedar Rapids after a fantastic trip to my home state.  Since the last time I posted, I attended multiple sessions all about Writing Centers in the Midwest, ate dinner on State Street, spent Saturday morning taking in UW-Madison, and finally returned back to Coe on Saturday night.

The Pyle Center from UW-Madison Campus Photo Library

The conference was held at the Pyle Center, right near the Main Memorial Union.

I also just finished typing up a ten page report for Dr. Bob with my observations on the conference.  Here are some of the highlights.

I attended seven sessions and during one of those sessions I was a presenter.  I presented with Haley and Dr. Bob and we talked about the culture and community of the Writing Center.  I'm sure I've said this before, but the Writing Center is such a fantastic culture.  Over the past year I've started coming to the Writing Center more when I'm not actually working.  It's a great place to get in a few minutes of studying (if you can ignore all the conversations going on around you) or to say hello to your fellow consultants.  The people I've met through the Writing Center are great people spread across all the majors at Coe.  I've probably learn most of what I know about Coe through them and all their experiences!  It's been a great source of pride to show prospective students the Writing Center when I'm working for Admissions.  I love taking them down to the Stuart-Peterson Tunnel and showing them what our Writing Center is all about.

But back to the conference.  Last year in Baltimore, I felt I discussed English as a Second Language (ESL) conferences a fair amount; it was the theme in my mind for my first Writing Center conference.  This year, I felt the theme was all about finding the writer's voice and creating strong and solid relationships with the writer.  This was a particularly interesting topic because as a writer, my voice is pretty crucial.  We mainly talked about academic voice -- how to find it and how to keep it alive when the paper isn't the writer's favorite cup of tea.  At this conference, I also met a lot of graduate students who were presenting on their papers.  Hearing about their experiences only made me excited to attend graduate school.  Yes, I know that's still a ways off, but hey, I'm allowed to think about it!

Memorial Union Lakefront Cafeteria

When I wasn't learning about Writing Centers, I was exploring parts of campus.  I did some homework on the Education Building Pavilion, ate Babcock ice cream at the Memorial Union while looking out at Lake Mendota, ate dinner on Friday night at Parthenon Gyros, walked State Street on Saturday morning, and saw the newly remodeled Chazen Museum of Art. I also saw a few friends from high school who go to UW-Madison.  It was nice to see them and tell them about my Writing Center and Coe adventures and hear about theirs!

But sadly, the trip did have to end.  We made the trek back to Coe on Saturday afternoon.  I'm lucky to have been able to go; I learned a lot (hopefully will use some of these ideas in our own Writing Center) and had a nice time.