Tutor of the Week: Riley Millard

Our next Tutor of the Week is Riley Millard, a public administration major with minors in history and public history.

Riley Millard

"Being in the political science and history fields has led to many writing assignments that I could imagine most would label as 'boring' or 'absolutely, mind-numbingly terrible' -- which, in all honesty, isn’t too far off from the truth. However, I find myself enjoying these assignments more and more as time goes on. There’s nothing like sitting down with a 250 page transcript of a Senate bill and condensing it into a 10 page brief, or taking three primary sources from 1670 and comparing them for like themes during the Reformation. What started out as a chore, required to endure to make it through my class load, as ended up a passion.

"Granted, working at the Writing Center really helped me work through understanding the importance behind the work that we as individuals do when we write. For myself, it was this understanding that helped me decide exactly what I wanted to do when I graduated. I feel as if writing on a topic, or in a field, really helps you find out exactly what your are going to be encountering in a career. That all being said, my favorite part about working as a writing tutor is when I can sit down with someone that is clearly very passionate about a topic, but not as comfortable with their ability to write on that topic, and help them put ideas onto paper and work through what they want to say. Providing students a service that builds confidence which carries over is one of the best things I have been a part of at SVSU."

Tutor of the Week: Victoria Phelps

We're bringing this thing back! Each week, our Tutor of the Week will contribute a blog post about themselves and writing.

Up first is Victoria Phelps, a literature major with minors in history and creative writing.

Victoria Phelps

"A lot of the papers that I write are analytical in nature. When I have to write an analysis or argumentative paper, I always try to approach it from a unique angle--either through the lens of a particular theory or through a not-often-discussed subject matter or both. I think we all come from different backgrounds and have different personalities, so if you take some of the interests and perspectives that are important to you and apply them to how you look through things like an event from history or a piece of literature, you'll come up with something that's more unique to you. 

"Essentially, I like to encourage people to write what they want to write about. Oftentimes we're so concerned with what our professors want us to say that we forget that our own opinions are also valuable, also valid. So your professor may have one or two interpretations of a piece of literature or a film or history, etc., and it may be persuasive, but that doesn't mean it's the only interpretation. If you see an alternative way to read something, follow that path until you either reach an impasse or you realize its grand destination. It can be a bit risky, but if you start exploring the land early on, you should still have time to retrace some steps. I'm under the impression, too, that a lot of professors like papers that set themselves apart from the rest of the pile. 

"Most importantly, though, I find that if you actually care about your interpretation and you're genuinely interested in it, you'll take the time to write a better, more passionate paper. Your voice is stronger, your thesis is more innovative, and your support is well-articulated because you understand it better than you might if you just repeated the professor's reading. In short, trust yourself and jump into an analysis that hasn't yet been explored. Cheesy as it sounds, you can learn more about yourself and your own interests in the process."