Swarthmore Academic Support

momuv2
Sun, 01 May 2011 16:27:56 +0000

My D, a junior, is a WA (Writing Associate) and also a WAM (Writing Associate Mentor), a WA who is assigned to mentor a specific student in all things written throughout a semester or year. They meet weekly and go over whatever it is in written form that the student needs to produce for a class. It is a wonderful service! I did want to make a point about all the academic support that is available. It is a given, on campus, that the community is diverse in terms of background and ability: one student may be especially good at writing while the next is especially good at science; the kid sitting next to you who can’t translate a line of hebrew just built a robot in 2 hours. Nobody looks down on anyone who asks for help or advice in any area, because everyone knows that what got them into Swat is some special gift, in outlook, personality, or ability, that adds greatness to the community. My D also has her own papers WA’d as a matter of course, and goes to the WA center for pre-writing insights from other WAs. Being part of the program, she has recognized just how invaluable the program is. A final plug for professors’ office hours – not like the obligatory office hours my own undergrad profs used to offer, by contract, back in the day: Swat professors seem to really enjoy having students come by to talk about paper topics or for problem-solving help. As students, it’s important to get over the feeling that asking for any sort of outside help is admitting some sort of failure. It’s a terrific resource, and the options are very highly developed at Swat.