Jason Potts, the director of the Writing Center on campus, can probably write one hell of a term paper. He's a doctoral candidate studying American literature and has worked as a tutor at the Writing Center for three years. But not even Potts emerged from the womb crafting perfectly structured and elegantly stated essays.
"When I was an undergraduate, I had a professor who pulled me aside after reading one of my papers," said Potts. "He told my that my idea was good enough to be a doctoral thesis, but my writing, in his words, was `stillborn.'"
The tutors at the Writing Center -- highly trained undergraduates and grad students -- can help you turn your "stillborn" papers into assignments you'd be proud to turn in. By helping writers edit for structure, ideas, logic and flow, the center's staff shows students principles to apply to every paper they write.
"We teach people to be better editors of their own work," said grad tutor Julia Kent. Tutors don't do your research for you or copy-edit papers; instead, they focus on how to structure and express the ideas that they believe are lurking in your head.
"You can come in at any stage in the writing process," said Kent. "You can come in with nothing and talk about organization, or you can come in with a full draft. You can come in with your messy notes and we can try to make sense of what you're saying and thinking."
The Writing Center Web site encourages students to bring in whatever notes or drafts they have for the paper along with the original assignment sheet.
Students often attend the Writing Center for the first time as a class assignment.
"For my Great Books class, we had to go [to the Center] at least one time, but I decided to go again," said freshman Jessica Turral, who plans to return to the Writing Center next week. "It was just so helpful. [The tutor] helped me organize my ideas and I feel like I could write my paper and do a good job. ... I've been telling everybody about it because it was so helpful."
The tutors come mostly from the English and other humanities programs, but since they focus on a paper's structure, not on its content, they can help revise an essay on any topic, from technical writing to philosophy.
Some students find that this organizational help is not what they need.
"I accidentally signed up for a 300-level art history class and I had this big thesis paper to write so I went to the Writing Center thinking I could get some valuable pointers," said sophomore Rachel Kolander. "They didn't aid me in writing a scholarly paper. They just gave me really broad, fifth-grade book report advice. [The tutor] didn't tell me to make my thesis more specific, which is what my professor graded me down on."
Though the tutors can rescue even the most disorganized, messy notes, they are also available to help students write fellowships and grant applications, personal statements for grad school and scholarship essays.
"There was a woman who, when she was applying for scholarships, brought every one of her papers here," said Potts. "Now she has a scholarship to Washington University, one of the best medical programs in the country."
September may be the best time to check out the Greenhouse behind Gilman. In recent weeks, about five or six students came in for tutoring each night, according to Julia Kent, but during finals 17 people might schedule appointments every day.
Appointments are always preferred and can be made by calling (410) 560-4258 or by e-mailing writingcenter@jhu.edu. The Writing Center is open from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday.
