Written by: Claire Phillips | Entertainment Editor
Between academic essays, lab reports, cover letters and presentations, writing takes up a lot of the average college student’s time. With all this time spent writing, many college students begin to suffer from the irritating concept known as imposter syndrome. Even I worry about my writing abilities daily as an editor at the Howl and a writing consultant at Western’s Writing Center.
Katherine Schmidt, the director of the Writing Center, is no stranger to the anxiety students experience when it comes to writing. Though each student has their own approach to the writing process, there are many common feelings associated with the subject.
“Whenever I begin a writing workshop, I always ask, ‘How many of you consider yourselves to be writers?’ Typically, only a few students raise their hands, even though most likely the entire group is engaging in the act of writing dozens of times per day: text messages, emails, social media posts, and even journaling,” Schmidt said.
College assignments may seem daunting, however, it’s important to put them into perspective. Many students tend to not give themselves enough credit for the work they accomplish daily, and the seed of this assumption was planted early on. “For too many reasons, students learn early that the self-sponsored writing they do ‘doesn’t count’ in school contexts,” said Schmidt.
In my opinion, the only trait that makes for a ‘bad’ writer, as one may put it, is feeling that you’ve learned everything there is to know about writing. The first step to becoming a ‘good’ writer is to admit you have room for improvement, and always will. However, the disheartening fact that will always be true is that not everyone shares the same sentiment as me, especially a large number of teachers.
“While there are no bad writers, most people — not just students — carry baggage when it comes to writing… their memories of writing are often associated with loneliness or negative experiences, and these experiences follow them into the college classroom,” Schmidt said.
Writing is a unique subject in the way that it doesn’t always have to be objective. Many students worry about perfecting their drafts, overcoming writer’s block or figuring out an effective thesis statement — and while all these components are important, writing is so much deeper. Ultimately, writing is about taking the ideas in one’s head and finding a way to communicate via words — no wonder it feels difficult at times. Many people understand the emotions that accompany the writing process.
“I truly believe, however, it only takes one teacher or one writing tutor or one writing partner to help turn things around,” Schmidt said. “Students can learn to recognize that they’ve been writing for a lifetime and that they are poised to succeed here at (Western).”
Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu
