Mark Mummert–A Day in the Life

Mark Mummert ’09 is an experienced Writing Associate in addition to being Editor-in-Chief of the Lafayette. He worked with Professor Julie Smith last semester Fall 2008 for ECON 323, Money, Financial Intermediation, and the Economy.

Mondays, Fall Semester 2008

9:50 Wake up

10:05 Arrive late to Logic class. I try to make it class…I do. I don’t really understand Logic.

11-12:15 Nation Building. It’s about post-war governments in Japan, Iraq, and Vietnam.

Lunch—I usually don’t eat lunch because it’s too crowded. I go back to my room and nap or do readings for my three o’clock class.

3:10-4 Constitutional Law and Politics. We takes notes on the readings. The professor basically summaries the readings for us in class. I sit in the front of the room.

4-7 I go back to my room or the library and do work.

7-8 I eat dinner in the newspaper office

8-10 Newspaper usually starts at 8, so I’m there from then until 10.

11:30 I go to the gym. I shower. I go to sleep.

If I have WA conferences…

I ask the student “How are you? What’d you think of the assignment?” I ask them if they have any questions. I follow the WA heuristic. Usually, they’ll have a lot of questions about organization: how that type of paper should be written. It ends when I don’t have anything else to say and they don’t have any questions for me; when they have a good grasp of what to do. You can kind of tell when they’re following what you’re saying. I say, “If you have any more questions or want me to look at your paper again, e-mail me.”

WA SPOTLIGHT:
Writing Associate Hannah Finegold, class of 2011, is a History major currently working for the College Writing Program on an assignment titled “Project of Easton.” Along with CWP Coordinator Professor Tatu and fellow WA Jessica Schor, Hannah runs a writing workshop for adult learners on Friday afternoons. The class contains, on average, twelve people who show a commitment to the program. The majority of these students are adults who had previously dropped out of high school and are now working toward their GED, or adults working toward attaining citizenship, whose English skills are slowly developing.
When asked to describe some of the main differences between working with adult learners as opposed to the average college student, Hannah emphasized the amount of positive reinforcement necessary to effectively help members of the program. “Working with the people at Project is completely different. You always have to go through everything that’s great about their piece of writing. Most of the students haven’t had a history of positive reinforcement and don’t believe that they are good writers. We focus on building them up. You can see the difference between working with members of Project and working with college students. When you compliment someone in Project, his or her whole face lights up.”
The workshop’s curriculum is chosen by the students. Hannah and Jessica ask them to make a list of the top five things they would most like to work on, and the most frequent responses are covered at workshop. “For example, some of the students really have difficulty with verbs, so we will make different worksheets that help them learn how to conjugate verbs correctly.” Most recently, Hannah and Jessica have begun to help members of the program with their “garden project.” This garden project is an activity outside of the workshop that the members have been working on. They are responsible for creating their own garden; they must choose what to grow, whether it should be organic or inorganic, etc. They are looking to get a license which would then allow them to sell their produce. This activity is a way to help members build confidence, by encouraging them to start and finish a project. Hannah and Jessica, with the help of Professor Tatu, decided that creating a garden book would be an innovative way to help program members improve their writing skills. According to Hannah, “They would be writing about something they care about. Each person will write about their role in creating or maintaining the garden, and Jessica and I will make a book with everyone’s picture next to their essay.”
Project of Easton is not only a writing workshop, however. Students can go down and volunteer with the program, whether they are with the College Writing Program or not. When asked what she most enjoys about Project of Easton, Hannah said that it was the writing. “They aren’t like college students. They don’t have a specific subject to write about, like the humanities or sciences. At Project they only thing they can write about are themselves.” She described the often emotional nature of many of the pieces she has the opportunity to read. In her opinion, this form of writing must act as an important and necessary release and outlet for the program’s members. “What they have been through is something they should share with other people. It’s something valuable, for them and for me.”