Madison Murnane, a senior professional writing major, works as a peer tutor for the Office of Academic Success, the Capital service that helps students who are struggling in an array of subjects.
“I’ve always love editing. In high school during the peer editing days, it was something I was always interested in doing.”
Writing is something that Murnane has always been interested in, and she often enjoyed writing short stories as a child. Her love for short stories has shifted to a love of editing.
“I originally majored in integrated language arts, [the major to directs students towards a career as] a high school English teacher. Now I have shifted my focus to professional writing and I would like to do editing for the next several years in my career. I am really passionate about helping writers find their voice.”
She became a peer tutor around two years ago and when asked why she does it, she said, “This is an exciting opportunity to be able to work with some of my peers and also gets some professional experience.”
While Murnane usually has appointment’s already scheduled every day, she’s always looking around for walk-ins who many need some help. After speaking with the student, she helps them mold an academic paper from sometimes scratch in a mere 45 minutes.
“There is a girl that I have worked with since last year and I have just seen her writing come so far and it really means a lot to me that she keep booking appointments with me, so obviously she feels comfortable with me. But, just to know that my work at the writing center is helping someone feels really good.”
Murnane doesn’t want a student to just come in and receive corrections. She wants her students to become better writers and to build their confidence up in their writing skills.
“It’s important to help the student understand the mistakes and corrections they’re making so they are actually learning and not just re-typing the paper when [we] give it back to them.”
Murnane said that the best thing about her job is working with all kinds of people.
“I have worked with such a wide range of students, from international students to adult learners, and being able to work with every skill level is a interesting challenge in itself. That’s one of the things I love the most about this job, it’s just such a wide variety. ”
For more information on becoming a peer tutor, you can email the director of Academic Success, Bruce Epps, at bepps@capital.edu.
