Shadowing Sesh-Numero Dos

Today was my second shadowing experience at the writing center and was very different from my last week. Unlike last week, where the student was basically done with her essays, this student came before she began her writing process. She was mainly concerned about being able to get her ideas across and met with the consultant so that she could clarify what she wanted to say in her paper as well as forming a solid foundation for her essay. He began the consultation by reading over the assignment which asked the student to write an essay talking about one topic thus far in the course. Because it was such an open-ended assignment, I think she felt a bit intimidated and unsure of what she wanted to say. He asked her what she was most interested in, and she began to talk about the idea of agency in leadership studies. She explained that agency was the idea of having a goal and accomplishing that goal, and to demonstrate an idea of agency, she began to talk about President Obama's health care plan. Then, she thought of how the agency of the individual related to the agency of an entire society. As she continued to discuss what she wanted to write about, she developed a question which would become her thesis. By the end of the consultation, she had a full outline done and was ready to write her essay. I thought it was amazing that just talking about your ideas to someone else can make it so clear as to why and what you're writing. I'm really beginning to see why the writing center is so effective for writers who are unsure of themselves and their writing.