I've been a tutor at my college's writing center for almost three years, and it has been such a crazy, exciting, rewarding experience. I wasn't so sure that being a tutor was right for me, but I'm so glad I decided to apply for the job. Sometimes there are challenging moments, but the good definitely outweighs the bad. If you're a tutor of any kind, you probably relate to some (or all) of these.
1. The student who can't explain the assignment.
"Did you talk to your professor?" Gotta love when the answer is "well, no...".
2. The student who waits until the day before an essay is due to ask for help.
Like same, but also I can't write this for you...
3. The student who schedules a 30-minute appointment to go over a research paper.
Unless you intend to only go over PART of it, please schedule an hour-long appointment. If we don't use the whole hour, it's better than not having had enough time. Trust me!
4. The student who books an hour-long appointment to go over citations.
So there are two extremes, and this is definitely my preference! I'd rather be able to get through the tutee's goals and areas of concern without rushing. And I'm pretty sure every tutor feels this way!
5. The student who sits on their phone through the entire appointment.
Please, if you ever visit a tutor, do not do this. This is a waste of both of our time, and no, we will not just make the edits for you. It should be a collaborative effort!
6. The student who requests multiple hours in a single day.
Sorry, dude, I have life outside of tutoring...
7. The student who comes in freaked out and ends up having a near-perfect paper.
First of all, everyone's writing can always be improved. But the point is, there are indeed some tutees who are what I might call the "dream client".
8. The student who is also a tutor...
Yeah, I'm a tutor. Yeah, I also need help with my writing!