OC’s Department of Language and Literature helps students improve their writing through Writer’s Block
December 2, 2019 - Writer’s Block is a student-led writing center that assists peers in writing and crafting papers at Oklahoma Christian University. The Department of Language and Literature sponsors and runs this organization on the second floor of the Mabee Learning Center.
Dr. Nathan Shank, the faculty director and advisor, says student director Isabel Belisle is the face and voice of the writing center. She is in charge of scheduling the tutors, coordinating any issues, setting up meetings and appointments and running the Shut Up and Write sessions.
OC’s Department of Language and Literature decorates for the winter season.
The mission of the peer writing service, crafted by Shank and the tutors, is to “[guide] students toward successful writing skills and intellectual expressions with care, adaptability and expertise.”
When describing the atmosphere of the writing center, Belisle sees the organization as both a family and constant party. As a tutor, she is able to meet and interact with students from several majors.
“We get to help students at all different levels, which is really cool. I work with a couple of Korean students, and I’ve worked with Japanese students and freshmen of all kinds,” Belisle said. “It’s really fun because for one, I love getting to meet the freshman. You get to meet all sorts of students from all over the place and learn all these fun topics.”
Ann Magner expressed her love for working at the writing center as a tutor.
“We just have so many people come in for so many different kinds of papers. You have people coming in for really personal papers,” Magner said. “You hear really cool stories, kind of underneath, while you help people communicate clearly. You learn so much about different topics and different people too.”
Writer’s Block is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Shut Up and Write sessions are also available through Writer’s Block to aid in writing papers, which is open on Monday nights from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.