WSWC 1st Quarter Report!

Look at those wonderful, smiling faces that say, "holy crap, I need more sleep." Alright, besides the horrid sleeping conditions  of a charter bus, I think it's safe to say that everyone who went on the Chicago trip had a good time.
 To start, the conference was a great experience, and I'm very glad that I attended. Aside from being a lot of fun (and rather fancy) I got a lot of useful information out of it. The conference took the topics I had already learned in school, and expanded on them to the point that I felt like I could teach it myself. It was just a great learning experience.
 Speaking of learning experiences, I was super excited to go as far north as Chicago because I don't get the opportunity to travel much. I had never been that far north, and it was really interesting for me to be that close to Lake Michigan. After spending a few days in Chicago  I've come to really like the city, and i do plan to go back sometime soon. I also liked the places we got to go to, and as you can see, we all had fun at The Bean.

 So, all in all, I had a wonderful time in Chicago, and I'm so glad that I decided to go on the trip, despite the absolute lack of sleep.

Marty's thoughts on Chicago

I'll begin with the obligatory mentioning of the thirteen-hour bus ride from here to Chicago. It was as though time itself had just run out of gas in the middle of the nowhere and had to walk ten miles to get more. That was my most prominent thought on the way up to Chicago, along with discovering zen and the art of sleeping comfortably with two square feet of space. In all seriousness, the trip itself was worth the 26+ hour travel time twentyfold over. There were so many different aspects of the trip that I absolutely adored, so I suppose I'll start with my favorite:

Friends. When I first stepped in to the West Springfield Writing Center over two years ago as a timid sophomore, I thought to myself, "Oh no." It was the ultimate fear of every underclassmen: upperclassmen. These deified men and women had infinitely more experience with writing, social interaction, and life than I could ever hope to. By some celestial event, I was able to make friends with a handful of them at best, which I was extremely thankful for, especially considering that I wasn't really friends (and just barely acquaintances) with the two other sophomores in my class. That is how I learned the true value of friendship - having familiar faces to lead you through unfamiliar environments, and I hope that now some of my classmates who I had the pleasure of going to Chicago with have learned it too. I made great friends, and what friends I already had, we're that much closer now, the kind of closer that only wandering through Chicago together can describe. You all know who you are.

I think my next best experience was the convention itself. I learned that tutoring can mean so many different things to so many different people, a fact that would be well-remembered by any new or nervous tutors out there - there is no right or wrong way, there's only your way, and whatever makes that tutee happy to come back time and time again is what you should be striving for. All of the panels I went to were interesting (including a certain presentation about tutor identity), and at the end of the day, my perception had been broadened to extreme proportions. The convention taught me that sometimes an alternate point of view, seeing the issues shared by so many people from so many different angles is the best way for you to figure out your own solution.

 Chicago itself was brilliant once you got past the way it smelled. Plus the way people drove, too. And I think our waiter at one of the restaurants we went to was on something (the pizza was great, though). All in all, I'm extremely glad I went and I pity those who couldn't, or those who chose not to. Between all of the collective shenanigans, you missed quite an adventure.

Eye Opening Chicago Experience - Andrew Han

For the past 2 years in high school, I would always just glance at the Writing Center and think, "It doesn't look like that big of a deal", after always hearing about it around the school. I always assumed that the Writing Center was just a small place where West Springfield students could go to get help with their writing and never thought about whether other schools also had them or not. I did not realize how clueless and narrow minded I was until the trip to Chicago.

While attending the national writing conference in Chicago, I was amazed to see how large and prominent writing centers were at other high schools, and especially at colleges. It gave me a new outlook on tutoring and made me think, "Wow this really is a big deal". I never imagined that so many other people could be so enthusiastic about tutoring and have their own techniques, viewpoints of the identity of tutors, and other ideas or opinions on tutoring. In a way, I was comforted to know that so many other people around the nation tutor as well which made me feel less different compared to other students in my school that aren't tutors. I also left the conference more motivated to tutor, knowing that tutoring is so prominent around the nation and that it benefits students more than I originally thought.

Touring around Chicago was also an eye opening experience in itself, despite not being related to tutoring, but rather the history and culture of a city I had never visited before. Going through the art museum was perhaps not the most interesting for me compared to other aspects of the trip, but there were some unique and intriguing pieces of art that I found captivating. Walking through the Millennium Park and viewing the famous Sears Tower and the Waterview Tower were amazing experiences as well. I loved the show at the Comedy Sports Club and was astounded by the improvisation done by the performers. All these moments and experiences helped give me a new viewpoint of Chicago as well as an understanding of why it is so famous.

I am extremely glad to have gone on the trip to Chicago because I benefited from the national conference in many ways as a tutor and overall had a great time as a tourist.

In Chicago It's All Fun & Games

The night was full of Shakespearean monologues, 99 problems rap battles, Beyoncé and Justin Bieber commercials all combined by blue and red teams of men and women in a show of pure humor, oh and did I mention it was all impromptu? Yes, it’s true! Everything about ComedySportz that night was unplanned and hilarious. The set was compiled of about 5 members in both teams. The teams were competing on being the most amusing for audience.  They were measured by the applauses and shouts from the crowd which was then complied into a number. It was like watching an actual sport game except with no real athleticism but only full of wittiness, silly antics, and good jams. I loved how the show was very interactive with the crowd. Throughout the show they would call on people for ideas and input. I remember when I raised my hand to get Beyoncé picked for one of the games and later watching the Beyoncé commercial come alive. I nearly jumped…well I actually did jump right out of my seat! It felt great to not only watch but actually be a part in the show. I love how every second I would turn and face Lauren and we would either burst out laughing or stand up dancing to whatever song that was being played during the short breaks. The best part was watching the facial expressions of the actors and actresses when they would mess up. ComedySportz was a blast! I am happy to have been able to experience the Chicagoan nightlife and I hope you can experience it sometime of your own. For more information CHECK OUT!!

Blogged by : Lehna Asongwe

India's round about thoughts on the journey to Chicago :)

Significance.

Whether the word has what it describes is totally based on perspective. I think it does. To label something as significant is, in my opinion, is a significant act. It is an act of allowing something to have value to you and to become vulnerable to its meaning.

These are the things my mind drifts off to after a thirteen hour, not particularly comfortable, bus ride. They were thoughts that became an underlying theme throughout my trip. I don’t mean that in a “I spent my whole trip philosophizing” way, a lot of the time it was just the opposite. I found bored in moments that should have been gripping and completely enthralled by objects, people, and moments that would usually be completely looked over.

Specifically at the Chicago Institute of Art, I was surrounded by obviously highly praised works of art and I found myself…unimpressed. It sounds cocky, ignorant, shallow, to name a few, I know but I’m being honest. After visiting the Louvre this summer I swore my taste in art had finally come alive, I thought I had learned to appreciate what the world has labeled masterpieces. However, possibly due to the lack of sleep, I was for the most part belligerent to accepting any significance in the art. I was instead skeptical and critical.

On the other hand I found myself hanging on to our tour guides every word as she took us around the city. I soon felt like I could tangibly see the city’s vibe, the history, the significance of every corner. Maybe it was her passion, as she enthusiastically retold old tales of Chicago’s past, its plans, and its dreams. In those words the city came alive, a whole city, when the art would not.

I found a real joy in discovery of perspective throughout this process. I picture taking anything, a concept, an idea, an object, and putting it in a suspended glass sphere, or imagine someone under the Chicago Bean. In a lifetime one would never be able to look at it from every possible angle because they are infinite. My theory is that on every sphere there has to be a significant angle. My own personal challenge is to find it for everything I can.

I know I sound cliché and probably lofty and still definitely with room to grow but this was the significance Chicago held for me. The significance of significance J      

Attempted Thoughts from Places: NCPTW Conference in Chicago, IL

One of my favorite writers, John Green, will occasionally post videos on YouTube entitled "Thoughts from Places", in which he documents trips he takes and then uses the experience to make a profound statement about life, love, literature, and everything in between.* Now, because he's a professional manipulator of words, everything he has to say is genuine, thought-provoking, and beautiful. He can take ten seconds of footage he took while driving down highway and turn it into a reflection of the idea of home and make it seem effortless, which is frustrating when a simpleton such as myself makes an attempt.

I won't lie to you, I tried making this blog entry Thoughts from Places-esque, but everything I had to say was just forced and vapid. I took pictures of the frickin' Bean and wrote about our perceptions of one another and true reflections of ourselves, and then connected that to Tutor Identity, (which was the point of the conference afterall) and it was disgusting. I tried being deep, and that just failed miserably, so instead let's just talk about my trip to Chicago.

I boarded a bus on a Thursday night, digesting a greasy Dollar Menu meal from McDonalds, knowing I was about to spend 13 hours with a group of people I hardly knew. The only thing that was certain in my mind at that point was we had a destination in sight and I was going to have difficulty trying to fall asleep. And while those two premonitions were absolutely true, everything else this trip brought with it was nothing I could have expected.

First of all, let's talk about the conference itself, since that was the whole reason for going. On Friday night, we received nametags upon registering, which made me feel immediately important and cool, and headed into the ballroom to listen to a young man named Colin give the keynote address. At that point, we were all tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep in a real bed, but the guy was captivating. He talked about tutoring in a way that was so refreshing; he talked about the feelings attached to helping others instead of just harping on the importance of posing Socratic questions. He made me realize that our job is important, that we do something worthwhile in our schools, all while managing to gracefully drop the F-bomb in front of a bunch of university professors, which I didn't think was possible.

Anyway, that speech set the tone for the rest of the weekend: finding surprises in every session room. I learned from tutors at colleges that were too small to pinpoint on a map and from kids that went to a high twenty minutes from my house. Listening to all these different perspectives was fascinating, because we all had one thing in common: we like helping people just as much as we like a good Oxford comma.

Oh yeah, and then after lunch there was my presentation. My friend Lehna and I had been perfecting a Powerpoint that started out as just a simple end-of-the-year project for months, and now we were using it to connect with people from all over the country in a meeting room of the Hilton Doubletree. We were nervous, and we played Foster the People to calm ourselves down until people started filing in. Once we got talking, though, there was no stopping us, and honestly my worries subsided once I started talking about “Tutor Identity, or Lack Thereof”: I was in my element. The applause we got signaling the end of our panel discussion was so rewarding, as were the hugs Lehna and I received from our fellow WSWC tutors. That was the big task of the conference, and suddenly it was over: now it was time to have some real fun.

Okay, so this blog post is starting to run a bit on the long side, so I’m gonna go ahead and go, but before I do, I’ll leave you with a list entitled “Things I’ll Remember About Chicago 2012”

1)      Deep, emotional talks about the state of my wellbeing with Lehna on the 26^th floor of the hotel.

2)      Meeting out-of-town friends on Sunday in front of the H&M

3)      Trying to get a straight answer out of a possibly stoned waiter at a pizza restaurant. All I wanted to know was if he had met Tina Fey!

4)      Deep, emotional talks about the state of my wellbeing with Marty on the bus at 2 in the morning on the bus ride home.**

5)      The most confusing sculpture ever at the Chicago Institute of Art. Seriously though, since when can we eat art?

6)      Bridget Mendler jam sessions

7)      Loving, loving, loving my job as a tutor and hating, hating, hating leaving the city.

So yeah, that was my trip. I hope you all enjoyed, and for your reading pleasure before I go, here’s an excerpt of my original Thoughts from Places post in which I tried to be deep.

“We looked into that giant metal sculpture and saw ourselves in our most vulnerable states. This whole trip was surrounding around our identity, and there in that glorified mirror, we truly saw what that meant.”

Seriously? Who am I?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!

Lauren

*I was running out of things that started with "L"
**I get emotional sometimes, okay?

NCPTW Reflection - Adrienne Stolte

Being a first year tutor and a sophomore is really nerve-wracking for me. I’m really glad I went to the conference. It gave me a bit more confidence in my tutoring. I know my goal so far has been to help the other students at my school. It was nice to get reassurance of that goal and tips on how to achieve it. I really liked the presentations about how to treat the tutee and specific qualities a tutor should have. The tutor should focus the session on the tutee and empower the tutee with analysis questions. The tutor should also make the tutee feel comfortable and good about them. An ideal tutor helps in the time of need, has a desire to help, has patience, is knowledgeable, is a leader, and has confidence. I think I heard a tutor from Niles West HS say, “It takes more than a smart student to be a tutor.” I really like this quote because I don’t have much confidence in the level of knowledge I have now. I know now that with experience I will improve in tutoring. I hope that I am able to attend again and maybe present in the future. To pass on knowledge to future tutors is a precious gift. (^  ^)/