Mississippi College Writing Center Solves Problems

MC senior Kim Dingess of Dallas tutors freshman Henchoz Xiao of China at the university's Writing Center.

The term paper topic is boring. Writer’s block refuses to go away. Procrastination is your pen name.

Mississippi College’s Writing Center offers solutions to these problems and more to help students succeed in classrooms.

Tucked away on the third floor of Jennings Hall, talented tutors are assisting classmates, including many freshmen, international students and others facing major writing challenges on the Clinton campus.

“Writing we all know can be hard, it can be frustrating and it can even be traumatic, even for the strongest of students,” says English professor Steve Price, the MC Writing Center’s director.

For the center’s team of tutors, who reach out to classmates free of charge, “no challenge is too big,” he said. “They find a way to make things work often when others would give up.”

Among the tutors on board for the spring semester is senior Kim Dingess, an English writing major from Dallas, Texas. Her dream is to become a best-selling novelist.

But sitting at a table above the Jennings Hall Courtyard and fountain below, Dingess puts her career goals aside that Wednesday afternoon in February to offer practical writing tips to freshman Henchoz Xiao, a native of China.

There are no quick fixes for writer’s block or eliminating stress associated with producing a 15-page paper on global warming in the 21^st Century.

One of the ways to circumvent writing fears, Dingess said, is “to brainstorm ideas with friends.” Reading works of other writers is another approach to get out of a rut, she says.

Evidently, the sessions that MC tutors are providing on the Clinton campus are paying off. A growing number of students are taking advantage of the services.

Reports for the past academic year, shows there were 1,300 student sessions at the Writing Center. “That’s a huge growth for us,” said Lingshan Song, the center’s assistant director. The typical student seeking assistance visits four times per semester.

The MC Writing Center seldom closes. It’s open from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. through 3 p.m. on Friday. It’s not just a service designed for undergraduates. A growing number of graduate students are attending the work sessions.

Tutors undergo a good deal of training before the lessons begin. They must excel in English 398 or the practicum for writing consulting. They also must develop skills working with second language learners. Over the years, they’ve built friendships with Writing Center classmates, especially those from around the world. “There are wonderful cultural exchanges between the Americans and the international students,” Price said.

Writing well involves much more than knowing where to place commas on a page, he said.

It involves learning about personalities, the histories of writers, knowing a little psychology and offering plenty of encouragement about proper English. The task of learning to become proficient English writers may be toughest for MC’s nearly 300 international students who come from more than 30 nations. International students must gain a basic knowledge of English before they graduate from Mississippi College. But students who come from the United States also will be tested on their writing skills before they receive their diplomas.

Whatever the situation, when students walk into 304 Jennings Hall seeking guidance, “we believe all writers need readers,” Song said. “We help all departments and all disciplines.”

Strategies to improve writing skills cover everything from how to write a sparkling lead paragraph or simply learning how to organize and revise a paper to transform a potential “C” paper into “A” work.

A 2010 MC graduate, Song is learning from some of the best. A native of China, Song was an English writing major who polished her writing and tutoring skills under English professor Kerri Jordan, the former Writing Center director. Song was initially hired by Jordan to be the center’s secretary, but soon moved up the ladder to become assistant director. With Price presently away with MC students for the London semester, Song’s office duties have increased in recent weeks.

With strong leadership at the top and a solid group of tutors on board, the English Department’s Writing Center is thriving in the new year.

Xiao thanks the Writing Center for making his freshman year go that much smoother at Mississippi College despite being thousands of miles away from his native China. “Kim (Dingess) is helping me a lot,” he says.

At a nearby table, freshman accounting major Chunyi Song of China agrees. She says she’s grateful for the work of her writing tutor Jamie Sexton. An English writing major, Sexton is a junior from Dothan, Alabama.

For more information on the MC Writing Center, contact Lingshan Song at 601.925.7289 or Song00@mc.edu.