“Your sure tobe a suckcess.”

When it’s 2:00am and you are still forcing your frail fingers to fill what you see as an unreasonable word count, you make mistakes. Even simple ones.

But if you feel like your paper has more “suck” than success, there’s a resource available for you—the Writing Centre. It can be intimidating to have a stranger read over the paper you have sacrificed sleep and sometimes even sanity for.

But it’s worth it.

Before my first appointment at the Writing Centre, I was anxious. My paper, the creation I had worked on until I thought my eyelids would droop all the way to my chin, was about to receive a critique. I could not afford to fail on a paper worth a quarter of my grade. As it turned out though, my paper was not as brilliant as I had originally thought. And, neither did the tutor laugh menacingly, turn up a scholarly nose, or take out a lighter to burn my paper as I had anticipated. Instead, the appointment began with a few standard questions, and we talked about what my paper examined, what the professor required, when it was due, and what I was most concerned about. Then we read through it and caught grammar errors, strengthened transition sentences, and the tutor even helped me narrow my thesis statement. By the end of the appointment I was both encouraged and challenged.

Apparently the tutors don’t bite. Who knew?

Last year, I became a Writing Centre tutor. I learned that we tutors cannot—unfortunately—guarantee you will receive an A+. However, we can help with anything from grammar to flow of ideas to those bibliographies every student is overjoyed to make. And I can assure you, every tutor is excited to help you. So, whether you’re the next Maya Angelou or you have no clue who she is, another opinion on your writing can save you from embarrassing mistakes, and the Writing Centre can help you become the success you were meant to be.

About the Author: Sarah-Ann Wijngaarden is a recent graduate of Redeemer (Class of 2016). She studied in France and worked at the Writing Centre as a tutor while a student at Redeemer.