I want to start off by saying I had pictures to post, but the kids I worked with never remembered to get their parents to sign a permission slip, allowing the photos to be posted. Anyway besides that, I have just finished my final week of volunteering at Lusher since August. I got involved after receiving an email asking for tutors and I took it as an internship opportunity. What I wanted to was to have a job or internship this year and as an English major it seemed a great opportunity. I started at about the second week of classes and it's been a great decision.
Every week either for either two days or three days, I arrived at the school at 3:45 and worked till 5. The first week it was really busy. We were in a part of the library with long desks spread out and every time the tutors would sit and then our supervisor would introduce us to a kid to help. As the semester continued it got less busy. That doesn't mean we weren't helping but it was the case of more tutors than students. There were days where I never tutored anyone but it was fine with me because I could do my homework. These past two weeks though it was about as busy as it was in the beginning.
When I first started I wasn't sure what the environment would be like. The very first week with all the students and tutors huddled in the room sharing space made me wonder how it would all work out. It wasn't too loud but it was easy to hear other students and tutors working, so it was a little crowded and distracting. The less busier it got the more quiet it became and it was a great environment for everyone. I got an email from the teacher Mrs. Parker and she said nearly 175 students have received help from the WAC lab! In one email she said 71 students have been tutored and the Lab hadn't even been open for ten days! The teachers are thrilled and are even posting A papers on their bulletin boards for students and tutors to see. The kids I have tutored are all very smart. I've helped revise essays on The Picture of Dorian Gray, Out of Africa, and research papers. Every student I tutored appeared to be in middle school and below, but they are all smarter than I was in seventh grade! Of course, there are the students that are there because parents and teachers make them go and that's really annoying when you're trying to get a student to understand or fix a paper and he/she has no interest at all. I understand why their parents urge them to go, but honestly it feels like a time waster, and no matter how much you try to get the student to be interested, he just sits next to you barely saying a word or understanding my corrections.
I like the environment because it's not overly structured and it's a nice easy place to work. I have met tutors from Tulane who are really cool and there are a few Loyola students as well. I never have worked with the same student but that's given me the option to work with a variety of kids. They are all fascinated by us college students and what to know what it's like. The Friday before Halloween a girl who was in the middle school asked me what college kids did on Halloween. I simply said we go downtown to celebrate and she said, "You don't go trick or treating?!!!! What do they do down there?!" It was so cute how innocent she was.
All in all I think the WAC lab at Lusher has been a great resource and while some might argue it's not the best environment for serious tutoring I say just look at the statistics of how well it's done so far. Next semester Lusher is expanding and offering a math and science lab for tutoring. If only I had that in middle and high school... I will be returning next semester and I hope it's as successful next semester as it is now. Maybe I should get help at Loyola's WAC lab from now on.
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