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Tag Archive: Writing Success Program
THANK YOU TO OUR STUDENTS FOR THE FEEDBACK! 
Dear Incoming 2012-2013 WSP Staff,
First I wanted to congratulate you on being selected to work for one of the finest writing programs present on UCLA’s campus. The Writing Success Program is not just a place of work; rather, it is a home, a safe place, and a location where much growth takes place. You will see growth in your students, your fellow staff members, your Director, and within yourself. You are about to be a part of something extraordinary in this upcoming year.
As the first ever ESL/ELL Writing Counselor (and WSP staff member for 2 consecutive years), I have learned a lot about how UCLA students function, how they view themselves, and how insecure many of them are about their writing. As a staff member, it is your duty to help provide students with the necessary tools to write more effectively, efficiently, and clearly all while maintaining their individual voice. How is it possible to achieve all four of these separate yet related goals? It requires faith. Faith in the writing process (from the beginning brainstorming stages to the final revision stages), faith in your students, and faith in your abilities as a counselor—these are all tiny aspects of the faith you will be exerting this upcoming year as you strive to be impactful and motivating counselors (as I hope you all have the desire to become or already are).
For those of you who will be the Administrative Assistant or Assistant Director, I commend you for your belief in the writing process and your belief in our program. With your support, organizational abilities, and dedication to the more “behind the scenes assistance” and “nitty-gritty details” of WSP, you will make an imprint on students not just in 2012-2013, but also those of future academic years. I encourage you to be open to growth as well and always remember that your primary role is to be the oil of the team, the one who keeps WSP going by being supportive, keeping others accountable, and helping the Director stay organized. You all rock!
These past two years have been quite beautiful but also quite challenging. I have witnessed a significant growth in our program as we served more ESL/ELL, Transfer, Freshmen, and other non-traditional/traditional students than ever before: we surpassed all of our objectives each quarter this year and even had waiting lists with people who we, sadly, did not have the capacity to meet with. I’ve seen the role of the ESL/ELL Counselor develop tremendously and am sad yet happy to let our new counselor have the reigns. I was a part of the 10-year anniversary of WSP’s birth. I became a mom and anticipate the birth of my son any day now, and I celebrated the birth of our other counselor (Miqi)’s son Zipo. I also experienced moments of frustration when some students would no-show me or other counselors, or when others would mistreat some of us. But those tiny specks of negativity do not surpass the plethora of positive, uplifting memories I have of WSP. I worked with students these past two years who will be graduating this Spring, and I am proud to see the huge strides they have made to improve their writing. I have not only worked with students on a professional level, but I have even made friends with some of my students, friends who will hopefully last a lifetime. I will always cherish the blessings WSP gave me.
I leave you all with one small piece of advice: love. Learn to love what you do in your academics, your job, your extra-curricular activities, your personal life, and your spiritual life. Learn to love people even when they seem un-loveable. Learn to love writing in a new way than you already do, or learn to love it for the first time. Learn to show love to your students and teach them how to love their writing and themselves. But most importantly, learn how to love life. Learn to dwell on the beautiful aspects of your journey rather than drown in the obstacles and trying moments that make life seem unfair. All of these things will probably take you the rest of your life here on Earth to accomplish, but start today.
With that being said, I love you all. Thank you for your passion and commitment to WSP. May you be blessed in the upcoming year with strength, confidence, and growth individually and collectively.
Here’s to the birth of a successful, memorable, and enjoyable summer and academic year!
With love and compassion,
ESL/ELL Writing Counselor 2010-2012
Do you like writing? Do you want to help other students discover their voice and potential through the writing process? If yes, apply to be a Writing & Creativity Counselor!
The Writing Success Program is hiring a Writing & Creativity Counselor for the Fall 2011-Spring 2010 Academic Year! Applications are due Friday June 17th at 12pm NOON, timestamped, to be dropped off at the Front Desk of 105 inside Student Activities Center. No exceptions, no extensions. Ask to drop off in WSP Director, Sahra Nguyen’s mailbox.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AN APPLICATION!
Please email Sahra for questions: snguyen@cpo.ucla.edu
This weeks Tuesday Title skips the bookstore entirely and goes straight to the web where it can be accessed for free! That is, unless you want to be entirely ironic and feed in to the capitalist system while buying a book about communism (nerdy political science joke, I apologize). The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederich Engels is the recommended book this week and is a must read regardless of your political ideology, affiliation or apathy because of the profound effect it has had on history.
The fact of the matter is that this is, politically, one of the most influential texts of the eras. This has inspired revolutions all across the globe and whether or not you agree with them, this book is essential for your understanding of the original motivations of these movements. The manifesto introduces many ideas like the working class being oppressed by the upper class, history as a class struggle and other ideas which still influence the modern era.
Even if you’re not a fan of history this text has significant context even in the modern era. Politicians sling around the words “communist” and “socialist” (they are interchangeable) in order to insult each other but why these words? The historical and even current feel of communism and socialism in America is that it is something evil and to be feared. Why then, I ask, have we incorporated some of its elements? A government-run public school system is most certainly socialist. So too, is your local police and fire department, as these services are provided and run by the government free of charge to any citizen.
Either way, whichever side of the political spectrum you fall upon this is a simple must-read for everyone. Whether you are reading to “understand the enemy” or reading to “learn more about alternatives to capitalism” Marx’s ideas and brilliance will be worth your time spent.
There are many links on the web but here is one version you can check out. I hope you enjoy this weeks’ Tuesday Title!
Post Submitted By: Jesse Chiang
” I wish there was a knob on the TV so you could turn up the intelligence. They got one marked “brightness” but it doesn’t work, does it?”
-Leo Anthony Gallagher
The article I have for you all below is a recent study that suggests that too much television stunts the psychological development of children. According to the study children who spend hours a day either playing video games or watching television tend to have more emotional problems such as hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, or trouble relating to his/her peers. Just two hours of television a day, even with exercise, (again according to the study) still puts a child at an increased risk for negative psychological effects.
Before there is a mass burning of televisions in Westwood it is important to consider a couple of things about this study which might make the findings less relevant than they actually seem. First and foremost this study does not really conclude that television equals negative psychological effects because as my statistics teacher once told me “correlation does not imply causation.”
What does that mean?
It means that even though these psychological effects are associated with watching television it does not mean that watching television causes negative psychological effects. It is entirely plausible to say that it might be the negative psychological effects that the children already have that makes them play a lot of video games or watch a lot of TV. For example, a child who has trouble interacting with peers (for other reasons) might turn to TV as a form of entertainment that is non-threatening.
Another point to consider is that definitions for psychological issues are not as set in stone as you think. The effects supposedly caused by television such as trouble interacting with peers are very subjective and could be seen as such when in reality there might be a different issue at hand (perhaps just a shy child).
So where does that leave us with this study?
Well that conclusion is entirely up to you, as the reader. Personally I think there is a middle ground for these sorts of studies. As I said earlier “correlation does not imply causation” but there is something to be said about television and an inability to interact with his or her peers. Being a member of the unpopular crowd during part of my childhood has taught me that social interaction, like any skill, only gets better with practice. In that way television can be harmful to a child that does not have great social interaction skills in that it takes away from valuable practice the child could be getting interacting with his or her peers. Television would then act as a crutch for a child who has a hard time connecting with his or her peers.
It appears I have rambled too much. Please read the article below and let me know what you think!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101011/wl_uk_afp/healthmindchildrentelevisioncomputer
Post submitted by Jesse Chiang
