Today was my last day as a writing tutor, and as lead tutor, at William Jessup University’s Writing Center. Not only am I an almost-graduate, am I officially no longer a tutor.

This means many things. I will no longer be working under one of the most wonderful bosses ever, and under one of the best tutor supervisors ever. I will also no longer be supervising a group of tutors myself—an experience that has taught me a lot.

But I thought I would write about, even today, not what my leaving means, but what I have learned and what I will miss.

As a tutor, I have learned how to be patient, shut up and listen. It was, and is, very tempting to cut someone off when he is not answering your question. But when I am tutoring that person, I have to listen to him—one, to be polite and make him feel comfortable, and two, to hear what he has to say so I can better take on his perspective.

And in taking on their perspective I use, and develop, empathy. If there is one thing tutoring has taught me increased in me, it is empathy. Students often complain about being frustrated, or not knowing what to do. One even cried from being so stressed. In order to help these people I have to empathize with them, so I can look at the assignment from their perspective and help guide them on a path that is right for them—their path, not mine.

I have learned to be encouraging. I am not a very open person, not prone to smiling a ton or saying, “You did so well today!” But I do enjoy encouraging people, and supervising tutors has allowed me to do that, conveniently in a way that works for me: via email. I never knew I could have an impact on people by sending out a simple encouraging email.

I have also learned to be selfless. I have had to sacrifice time for training meetings and to help get a shift covered. I have had to be willing to cover shifts.

But, thanks to wonderful co-workers, the shifts have all gotten covered, or the situations otherwise worked out. I am so thankful for my fellow tutors, who have stepped up time and again to cover other shifts and have often been on the ball when I am way behind. And I am grateful for the encouragement I received from them as lead tutor. They all completed tasks and worked together so well. To these I say, Thank you. And, Thank you for letting me lead you. I will miss you all.

I will miss the other staff members in the Learning Commons as well, who became wonderful constants over the past seven semesters, walking back and forth. I will miss all the student workers I got to know at the Learning Commons front desk. I could not have asked for a better first boss; I will her miss very, very much. To her I say humbly, Thank you.

I will miss the green flower pens (some with no flowers); I will miss the tiny sticky notes; I will miss the giant “Writing Center” stamps (so much power in one stamp!); I will miss the name signs. I will miss regular clients’ smiles and hellos. I will miss the round tables; the murmuring of students meeting with counselors in the surrounding offices. I will miss Mr. Bingley the parrot fish, and undoubtedly the cutest fish I have ever had the pleasure to meet.

Maybe, maybe, I will even miss Purdue OWL and all those style books—though that might be a stretch. I might just miss all the conversations about those ridiculously different styles, however.

It’s been a great ride, everyone. Thank you for making my individual experience as a tutor as challenging and rewarding as it has been.