Writing essays and crafting college applications, the Writing Center is receiving more attention than ever as seniors come in with their college papers.
Many students are grateful for the additional support with college deadlines looming.
With help from English teacher and Writing Center host Nicole Pontious, the center is able to run and stay open to students, especially seniors, in need.
“Yes, during this time of year I see lots of students come in with college essays, college applications and just wanting to really talk through some of the prompts,” she said.
The Writing Center is available to assist students on any aspect of a college essay.
“First off, they always ask what you’re looking for and anything you’re specifically wanting help with,” senior Ben Wickenhauser said. “If you just want the essay itself looked at, word choice and grammar are always good to get fixed if there are any issues.”
Senior Charlotte Welch is among several other students that found the center to be extremely helpful when trying to craft her essay.
“There were certain points in my paper where I couldn’t think of the words to express my feelings or what I wanted to portray,” she said. “Without even telling [Mrs. Pontious] where those areas were, she spotted them and helped put my feelings into words.”
The Writing Center caters support to each individual student coming in, so each experience may look slightly different.
According to Wickenhauser, the center was great about incorporating more unique and creative themes into his college essay. He wasn’t the best at using artistic elements in his writing, so the Writing Center added creative metaphors to tie in the overall theme.
Both Welch and Wickenhauser enjoyed their experience at the Writing Center and anticipate going back for more help in the future.
“I would definitely recommend it to anyone in my class that hasn’t gone … the Writing Center is just a great place to help out with anything you’re writing,” Wickenhauser said.
The Writing Center has been around for several years, but it used to be more fully-staffed and open for more extensive periods throughout the day. Currently, the center is only open before school in room A266 and during all lunch periods on school days.
It focuses on helping any student that needs extra help in terms of writing.
“The big thing with the Writing Center is that it is always a one-on-one consultation,” Mrs. Pontious said. “We just ask that students come in and have something in mind to work on so that we can really hyperfocus on any areas that they need improvement, feedback or help on.”
According to her, sometimes students come in just to brainstorm or figure out how to approach a certain topic or prompt.
The Writing Center is a resource open to all students at the high school.
“It was extremely helpful for college essay writing,” Welch said. “She helped enhance my style and helped make my writing more memorable for college applications.”