By Maegan White
Elm Staff Writer
On Sunday, Feb. 19, the Washington College Writing Center hosted the first Senior Capstone Experience writing retreat for the semester. Seniors and juniors working on their SCE could register for the event.
According to the Director of the Writing Center Dr. Rachel Rodriguez, this is the first of two retreats the Writing Center will host this year for seniors and juniors working on their SCE.
“[The retreats] provide seniors with dedicated space and time to make significant progress on their SCEs,” Dr. Rodriguez said. “Writing a project of this size can often be daunting and it’s hard to maintain momentum and productivity. My hope is that the retreats provide a day away from all distractions to hunker down and make headway.”
When students arrived they were given a folder with different resources to help them for the day including a schedule, Writing Center information, and writing tips. As students enjoyed free breakfast, Rodriguez welcomed the students and went through the day’s schedule.
Students were divided up into rooms depending on what type of environment they enjoyed working in.
After two and half hours of writing, students took a break for pizza and got to spend time with Gryff the therapy dog, who is always a favorite addition at the writing retreats.
Students returned back to their classrooms and kept writing following lunch. Throughout these writing sessions, students could also attend optional SCE writing workshops and tutoring sessions.
The retreat concluded with Rodriguez addressing the group one last time, giving some final tips and tricks for completing a successful SCE.
Senior Caroline Becker is writing her thesis on oyster restoration techniques in the Chesapeake Bay. She attended the retreat so she could work with other students who also were working on their SCEs.
“I really needed a time spaced out just for writing my SCE,” Becker said. “I thought it was really productive.”
The various optional activities in between the sessions also encouraged concentration.
“I liked how they had natural breaks in writing,” Becker said. “We got to stop for lunch, see the dog, and take breaks so we weren’t just writing for six hours straight. It was fun and productive.”
Rodrigez said that beyond the two writing retreats they are hosting this semester, students can also schedule one on one appointments with writing tutors for any subject and any assignment. Students can make appointments at washcoll.mywconline.com.
They also accept walk-ins.
The Writing Center has tutors for each major who can help with a wide variety of assignments ranging from lab reports to SCEs.
The event was co-sponsored by the Student Government Association. According to Secretary of Academics junior Larissa Conte, her position budgeted for the writing retreat to help provide breakfast and lunch for the seniors.
Conte also said she budgets for some thesis presentations at the end of the semester.
The next Writing Center SCE retreat will take place on Saturday, March 25. Registration for the retreat will be opening soon.
If anyone has questions about future SCE writing retreats or the Writing Center, they should contact Rodriguez at rrodriguez2@washcoll.edu.
Photo by Parker Thornton
Photo Caption: Writing Center tutors offered several tutoring sessions during the retreat.