When tasked with writing a paper to American academic standards, it’s easy to feel intimidated. Your mind may be swarming with questions. Where do I start? How do I know if I’m doing this correctly? Wait, what’s the difference between APA and MLA again?
You’re not alone! The questions bouncing around in your brain have been asked by every other student before you and will continue to be asked for the rest of time. Luckily, you have an abundance of resources available to you at VCU, no matter what question you may have.
The Writing Center
When should I come to the Writing Center?
Maybe you don’t know where to start, maybe your entire paper is finished and you just need to read it out loud to make sure it makes sense, or maybe you’re somewhere in between. The Writing Center is a great place to get your paper where you want it to be.
What if I need help getting started?
Our consultants will meet you wherever you’re at in your writing process– even if you haven’t started yet! Stop by the Writing Center to brainstorm, make an outline, or dive right into your essay in a way that works for you with a little extra support. And if you’re working on research-based writing, you can have a conversation with a consultant about your research topic and narrow it down to develop a meaningful research question.
Where do I go for help with citations?
Writing Center consultants love to point students in the direction of the PurdueOWL citation guides. The PurdueOWL website is extremely helpful for learning new citation styles and creating citations no matter how long you’ve been doing research- we can help you navigate their website and get the most out of this resource!
Campus Learning Center
What if I’m struggling with content?
If your concern is with the content you are learning in class, you can make an appointment with the Campus Learning Center for a tutoring session. Similar to the Writing Center, their goal is to make you feel comfortable and confident in what you are learning. If you’re a STEM student, you may have SI (or Supplemental Instruction) sessions available to you which go over the content learned in class to give you a better understanding.
The VCU Librarians
Who can point me in the right direction for research?
Each major at VCU has its own librarian prepared to help students utilize the many resources the library has to offer. These librarians can show you databases that are most useful in your major, citation guides, and help you find resources beyond what you may be able to find on your own/first try! Your professors may even ask a librarian to help your class learn to utilize keywords in research, but if they don’t, you can always request a meeting on your own! Cabell is full of humans who are excited to show you not only how to use the library website, but also how to utilize the other databases you may have access to.
Your Professors
What if I have a question about the assignment itself?
In the stress and panic of trying to complete an assignment, it’s easy to forget that one of the best resources you have is the one who gave you the assignment in the first place. In classes with large numbers of students, it can feel bothersome to ask your professors questions about assignments, but utilizing their office hours or asking for clarification via email can show that you care about doing well and that you are taking the initiative to fully understand an assignment. You can read Eve’s blog post on email etiquette when communicating with professors here.
When you get your next assignment and you start to feel overwhelmed, remember that you have an entire support system ready to help you- all you have to do is ask!
About the Author
Madi Jarvis is an English and Creative Advertising student from Columbus, Ohio. When she’s not consulting in the Writing Center, she can be found updating her Letterboxd with a coffee in hand.
Quote: “I don’t know what I think until I write it down.” -Joan Didion
Photo by Eric Foster on Unsplash
from the writing center at virginia commonwealth university 