Student View of Williston: The Writing Center

Hi, my name is Brendan Hellweg and I am a student at Williston. I also am a writer and editor for The Willistonian, a theater techie, and, as of now, the writer of a student blog. I plan to talk about academics, student life, and general Williston-related news.

writing center
Sarah Sawyer helps a student

I figure a good way to start off this blog would be a little bit about one of my favorite parts of Williston: the Writing Center.  I’ve always enjoyed writing and the written word. Since an early age, reading was my go-to source of entertainment (at least until the computer cried its illustrious siren song…) and the idea of inventing whole new worlds of my own thrilled my young self.

The Writing Center is located just above the library. About fifteen inspirational quotes from famous authors hang from the ceiling. Inside the bright little room is usually a writing center aide who reviews and helps edit student work. Although mostly it is meant to be school work, from my understanding the writing center also welcomes extracurricular writing projects and is glad to give advice and helpful hints on basically anything you can type. The Writing Center is especially useful to my English class because the director of the writing center, Ms. Sawyer, is also my English teacher, and having an extra chance for your teacher to point out the same errors that normally you would be losing points for is very helpful.

brendan hellweg student writer
Brendan Hellweg

So far I have used the center for a three-page essay on the British sci-fi show Doctor Who, a 16-page compilation of short pieces on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and a dystopian short story about the limits of control on the human mind. Every time I walk out I feel like I have just improved my piece tenfold and learned something new about how I can create a story cleanly and articulately. The Writing Center is like a strainer through which I can put a hastily written essay about everything and nothing, and the result is something worth being proud of. I can see myself going there a lot in the future.