Writing an Honors Thesis Project

By Lindy Sipes

My best advice is this: find an advisor who is as passionate about your project as you are and who will help you get organized and make a plan from the very beginning. My advisor, Dr. Trini Stickle, helped me make an outline for the two semesters we spent working on my project and helped me set deadlines for drafts so I would stay on track. We made a plan to divide the paper into manageable chunks and drafted each chunk several times before piecing them together into a 75-page final version (don’t worry, most of it was archival material!). She spent hours helping me edit and assemble my work and scanning in notecards from the archives. She also lent me numerous books from her own library and connected me with prominent linguists to conduct interviews to round out the research. Without Dr. Stickle’s help and guidance, I would not have had a successful defense day.

1. The Outline

I chose to work on my CE/T project over a period of two semesters. Dr. Stickle and I made a rough outline of what those two semesters would look like.  

Timeline:

Fall 2021:

• August-Thanksgiving: Reading, archiving, meeting with Dr. Stickle regularly
• September: set outline for paper: about 60 pages

Spring 2022:

• January-March: writing time
• April 1: Final work finished, send to readers
• April: Final formatting (goes to readers 2 weeks before defense)
• May 1st: Estimated defense date

This timeline made the project very manageable. At the beginning, I was thinking, “Holy cow, I have to write 60 pages by May!” The timeline helped me take it a few months at a time and see the bigger picture, and it let me know that I had plenty of time to get the project together. Need some additional help with the jumping-off point? Check out this short blog post on how to begin tackling a lengthy writing assignment. 

2. The “Chunks”

My paper was divided into several chunks: the abstract, an introduction, critical reviews of the subject’s writings, a background with a brief history of the topic, a section for the interviews, a discussion portion, and appendices for the archival materials (notecards with neologisms). It made the most sense to write the sections in an order that was conducive to my research process, even though this was not the order they would appear in within the paper. For example, I began writing the critical reviews while I was reading and researching; the appendices were composed after meeting with Dr. Stickle to make scans of the notecards; I wrote the introduction last.

3. Drafting First and Editing Later

As soon as I finished a “chunk,” I would send it to Dr. Stickle and get her feedback. She emphasized that the important part was getting words on the page, even if I did not like the way it “sounded.” Then, we were free to edit it, and edit again, and edit again. No matter how terrible the first draft is, you can always keep editing. If your desire to write the perfect draft the first time keeps you from writing very much, you won’t have anything to work with. 

4. Due Dates and Feedback

While the overall outline was vague, once we were in January-March (the “writing time”), I was meeting with Dr. Stickle every other week. We would talk about a section, and I would plan to get her a draft by the next meeting. Then we could talk it over, make edits at the meeting, make a deadline for the next draft, or begin planning the next section. This plan allowed some flexibility if I needed more time to work on a section, but still ensured that I was writing, because I knew I would have to show up to the next meeting with something to talk about. (If this “writing time” tends to take the wind out of your sails, take a look at this list of tips to keep your project on track and on time.)

No matter what topic you choose for your thesis project, it is inevitable that you will get burnt out and frustrated. Being organized, having a schedule, and meeting with your advisor regularly will keep you on track. 

We Don’t Bite! How to Feel Confident Going Into Your Writing Center Appointment

By Elizabeth Roth

Oftentimes as I’m working at reception, or even as I’m idly doing homework waiting for an appointment to begin, I have a front-row seat to students as they walk into the Writing Center (often for the first time). Sheer panic in their eyes. Reaching out to the sign-up sheet and back again. They stutter over their request for an appointment. They avoid eye contact. They shuffle. Why does this happen? How can you be confident and friendly when you’re ready for your appointment? Is there some hidden power that the tutors have to wield against you should you make a mistake?

We’re students like you!

All of the tutors in the Writing Center are Undergraduate students and Graduate students. We are likely taking the same classes you are, and we have the same problems as you do. We have spliced our sentences, cited sources wrong, and simply put a placeholder for evidence we don’t quite want to add yet. Any mistake you have made, we have made, too! That’s part of the reason we can provide you with helpful advice. We can relate to frustrating prompts and overwhelming class schedules, and we will not judge you, I promise. Now that you know we’re not going to bite your head off when you walk in, what should you bring with you to feel most prepared?

Preparedness comes in stages

I have seen all levels of preparedness when it comes to drafts. Some people just bring in the prompt to brainstorm outline ideas, and some bring in full drafts with works cited, i’s dotted, and t’s crossed. What do I recommend you bring to feel the most prepared and confident? Your prompt for the paper and a rough first draft (maybe a pen too). Bringing in the prompt for the paper lets your tutor know what to look out for and what your goals are. Knowing the specific requirements that your professor has laid out for the assignment helps us give the most accurate advice to help you achieve what they are looking for. Otherwise, we’re taking a shot in the dark and can only truly help you with grammar and structure. A rough first draft makes sure you’ve thought about the paper before bringing it in and lets us have a framework to base our feedback on. We can only help you as much as you let us, and when you bring in your prompt and a draft it helps all of us feel more confident going into the session! But what if you have no idea where to start?

We all have to start somewhere.

Past tutors have covered how to start up the writing process, but some good general advice is to read over the prompt and make an outline. Outlines can be as sparse as: 

Intro

Body 1

Body 2

Body 3

Conclusion

Of course, I recommend that an outline be slightly more fleshed out than that. What do you want to say with this paper? That is your thesis statement, which will go in your introduction in addition to introductory information on your topic. How will you prove your thesis statement is correct? Use evidence from the text in your body paragraphs. Remember that everything should tie back to your thesis statement. How do you wrap up the paper? Summarize your strongest arguments in the conclusion. No new evidence, just making sure the reader knows you proved your point in the paper. It practically writes itself. If you want more comprehensive steps on how to develop your outline, check out these blog posts by Abby Ponder and Sarah Stevens. Our job is to help you figure out what comes after you have a basic idea of what you want to do with your paper. So, how can you help us help you?

Be prepared and engaged

Once you have your draft and prompt, come in and be prepared to take notes! Your time will be much better spent if you can remember the feedback we give you. If you’d rather have more direct advice from your tutor, ask them to leave comments on your paper. These comments can be on either a hardcopy or a virtual copy—it’s just important to remember what you’ve talked about. You’ll have a much better time in your session if you can engage with your tutor! Like anyone, a little small talk gets those gears turning, and a little goes a long way to helping a good session turn into a great one. Part of preparedness is coming with your draft and prompt in hand, but another important aspect is time management! If you come rushing into the Writing Center the day the paper is due, half an hour before class, there’s not much your tutor can do for you. Especially if you’re worried about structural or organizational changes you have to make, coming in the day that the paper is due is going to make things difficult for you. Your tutors have been taught how to prioritize, but prioritizing is not the vote of confidence you want to have when you’re submitting your paper! Even a day in between your appointment and the deadline can help your session to be more productive, and it can make you feel less rushed going into the editing process.

Editing process? Really?

Yes! Editing process. It’s not as scary or as time-consuming as it sounds. Emily Diehl wrote about the ins and outs of the editing process in her blog post. First drafts are a great place to get your ideas down. Second drafts are the best place to polish. You’ll feel much more comfortable going into the Writing Center knowing that your tutor can help point you in the right direction for edits. Even if you come in with a bare-bones concept, we are ready and willing to talk that through with you. Talking your paper through with another person can be especially helpful to the writing process. Not only can you catch some grammar mistakes, but you can also make sure you know enough about the direction of your paper to explain it to someone else. Of course, some of the comments the tutors make can be taken as suggestions, but often we just want to help you make the best of your paper. Your tutor will likely not make a suggestion unless it’s something that you can use to help improve your paper. We will be happy to help with whatever you want to work on, but either way, it’s always helpful to have an idea in mind of what you want to work on before you get to the Writing Center. This gives your appointment some direction and makes sure you and your tutor aren’t left with too much to tackle.

You’re done!

Appointment times go very fast when you are really into the editing process. Forty minutes pass in the blink of an eye, and your time is suddenly up. You’re encouraged to write down some final thoughts about what you and your tutor talked about, since it’ll be helpful for remembering later. Sometimes there’s candy floating around the office, so you could grab some on your way out. You have made it through the harrowing process of discussing your paper with another student—so how do you feel? Hopefully less overwhelmed, if you followed this list.

Additional resources to help you feel prepared

You can find FAQs about going into your appointment here.

Pre-Writing: Why I Never Skip Those Pesky First Steps

By Sarah Stevens

As we near the end of the semester, we also draw closer to the ever-approaching shadow of finals week: the final, exhausting burst of effort to conclude an entire semester’s worth of writing. At this point, you’re probably itching to cut a few corners, maybe by skipping that final once-over or the single peer review that you couldn’t get to on time. As a harried English major, I totally get it—but no matter how slammed I am for time, there’s one stage of my writing process that I never skip, and that’s pre-writing.

I divide my pre-writing stage into four simple steps: finding resources, making annotations, outlining my major points, and drafting a thesis statement. After a lot of trial and error, I have come to realize that following this process not only makes me feel better about my productivity, but that it also cuts down on the effort and stress that I experience towards the end of a project. Here’s how it works:

1. Finding Resources

Before I come up with any kind of argument or thesis statement, my first step is to pick a general topic and read up on what other scholars have to say about it. Want to write about gender dynamics in Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, for example? Pop over to the WKU Libraries website to find a few articles that strike a chord.  Not sure what you want to write about at all? There are several paths you can take to finding that jumping off point—you can drop by your professor’s office hours to ask for help generating ideas, or you can even pop some keywords from your writing prompt into Google to see what people think outside of academia. If you’re still having trouble, check out our Brainstorming category on the Writing Center Blog—we have more posts about beginning research, finding a topic, and getting started on papers. 

Why it Helps: There’s nothing worse than getting halfway through a draft and then realizing that you can’t find enough resources to support your argument. Doing preliminary research keeps you from going all the way back to the drawing board. 

2. Making Annotations

Now that you have your resources, your next step is to turn all of that new information into usable materials for your essay. You can do this quickly and easily by making annotations—a fancy way of saying that you write all over those resources that you just found. Even if the word “annotations” sounds intimidating, the actual process is easy: take a highlighter, pen, or pencil and underline the passages that stand out to you. Were they interesting? Do you disagree with them? Do they remind you of something that you talked about in class? Do they sound like they could be used to support your argument? If you answer yes to any of these questions, mark those places on your resources (or on the original text that you’re analyzing, if applicable). As you go, make some additional notes in the margins of the text that tell Future You why that part is important. If you don’t want to use words, you can come up with a system of symbols — stars can be supporting evidence and exclamation points can be statements you disagree with, for example.

An example of my annotations from my copy of Dante’s Inferno.

Why it Helps: All of these marks on your papers serve a dual purpose: first, they make it easier to find passages later, and second, they make up the very beginnings of your argument. Once you start drafting your paper, it’s easy to glance back at your annotations and know exactly what evidence to use and what you want to say about it. Also, no more frantically flipping pages trying to find that one specific quote you need! 

3. Outlining Major Points

After I have a general idea of the resources that I’ll use and the point that I want to make, my next step is fitting my argument into a logical pattern that I can follow when drafting my essay. Depending on the project, I do this either on paper or in a separate digital document that I keep close by for easy reference. Give yourself permission to be messy here—in an outline, grammar isn’t important, and neither is essay formatting. My personal preference is to have a stacked, bulleted list of main points in the order that I want to talk about them, like so: 

An example of one of my digital outlines for a research paper.

In my example, each major topic has a short list of supporting evidence beneath it, with every point representing a paragraph or two that I wanted to write in my essay. No matter how you format your outline, the point of this step is that you begin to form an argument that flows and progresses logically from introduction to conclusion. 

Why it Helps: When writing an essay, your outline is like a lighthouse: it keeps your argument from drowning in details or veering off course. Also, it helps you meet the intimidating word or page count that your professor slipped into the guidelines. If you already have a list of things to talk about, you’re much less likely to peter out in the middle of the project. 

4. Drafting a Thesis Statement

The last stage of my pre-writing process is drafting a working thesis statement to add to the top of my outline. After doing preliminary research and creating an outline for your argument, most of the work for this part is already done. The goal here is to condense what you’re trying to say into a sentence or two, hitting a couple of main points and making a definite statement about your beliefs on your topic. It’s important to note that while the thesis does function as a guiding statement for your essay, it doesn’t have to be concrete: if your writing takes a different direction than you were expecting in the beginning, it’s okay to go back and modify your thesis to match your new conclusions. 

Why it Helps: Even though your thesis statement doesn’t need to be set in stone, it serves as a convenient summary of your outline for you to keep in mind while you write. Most writing projects require some kind of thesis statement anyway, and it could save you some summary work later; you won’t have to retrace your logic in order to distil it. 

Of course, even though these steps work for me, everyone’s writing process will be different. I encourage altering or reordering these steps to fit your preference — and of course, we in the Writing Center can help you brainstorm your essays or your process along the way. 

Getting Your Work Out There: Advice From Students Who Have Published or Presented Their Work

Author: Adrianna Waters

As scholars and writers, sharing your work with others is one of the best ways to improve your writing and build connections. While it might be intimidating to submit your writing or research, you can gain valuable experience that will build your résumé and portfolio. There are many opportunities to submit your work for contests, conferences, or journals, but here are a few avenues within WKU.

The Ashen Egg

What it is: The Ashen Egg is WKU’s undergraduate journal on literature, rhetoric, linguistics, film, and popular culture.

When you can submit: Submissions are typically due at the end of the fall semester with acceptances and publications in the spring semester.

Advice: “My advice is… Find a sponsor who is passionate about your work. They will invest the time and energy into improving your writing through the beginning editing process. The sponsor builds the writer. My publications had sponsors who really really valued my work.”

• Sarah Lyons had work published in The Ashen Egg’s 2020 with her essay “The Political Gun Debate: Targeting Presuppositions in Contrasting Political Cartoons.” She was also accepted into The Ashen Egg 2021 (publication forthcoming).

Find out more here.

Undergraduate Conference on Literature, Language, and Culture

What it is: The Undergraduate Conference on Literature, Language, and Culture is an annual event sponsored by the English Department in which students have the opportunity to present their work to peers and faculty.

When you can submit: The conference takes place in the fall semester with submission deadlines usually at the end of October or beginning of November.

Advice: “Presenting at a conference is a great way to develop academically, and the Undergraduate Conference allows you to enter these experiences in a familiar environment. You should not be afraid of submitting to the conference because the English Department is very kind and excited to hear your papers. The professors and other students engage with your paper and encourage you in your work. You may be asked a question that prompts more research to further develop the paper, or you may be inspired to begin new projects.

To prepare for the Undergraduate Conference, I read my paper aloud and noted language that sounded awkward or confusing. Sentence structures that work in writing may not be effective verbally. I recommend adjusting this language and practicing the presentation until you feel that the paper flows smoothly in speech.”

• Joseph Shoulders presented “The Gender Identity Defined by a name in Silence” at the 2020 Undergraduate Conference on Literature, Language, and Culture. 

Find out more here.

Mary Ellen and Jim Wayne Miller Celebration of Writing

What it is: The Mary Ellen and Jim Wayne Miller Celebration of Writing contest is open to English majors or minors. The contest’s genre rotates every year with past genres including poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Each year, WKU welcomes a guest writer to judge the finalists and choose three winners. Finalists have the opportunity to attend a workshop with the guest writer and receive feedback.

When you can submit: The contest is in the fall semester with the deadline in September/October and the ceremony in October.

Advice: “[The contest] was an excellent experience, especially the workshop where I got to read my poem to the guest poet and other finalists and hear their thoughts and ideas about my poem. It helped me see my writing in different ways, and really inspired some of my later edits, which I think is incredibly important for any writer. 

However, this was not my first time submitting to the Mary Ellen and Jim Wayne Miller Celebration of Writing, which bridges onto my advice for students interested in submitting. I have submitted every year that I have been at WKU, the fall of 2018, 2019, and then 2020, but it was not until my third submission that I was accepted as a finalist. I know that oftentimes submitting a piece of work can be daunting at best, especially if you are not sure what is going to happen to it, or you get discouraged by rejection. I almost didn’t submit this past fall. I was thinking about it, but I kept talking down to myself, saying that I didn’t have anything good enough or that I thought was interesting, even though I had completed “I Have My Mother’s Handwriting” soon after the opening for submissions was announced. It wasn’t until the day that submissions were due that I was looking at the document again and finally told myself to submit it, that the worst thing that can happen is nothing, and I’ve already been there.

That is the best advice that I can give to anyone interested in submitting to the Mary Ellen and Jim Wayne Miller Celebration of Writing: that the worst thing that can happen is nothing. If you have a piece of writing that you have completed, you should submit it, even if you aren’t sure, or think that it may not be good. After all, the process to submit is physically a lot easier than what it takes to write.”

•  Eli Edens was a finalist and received 2^nd place in the 2020 Mary Ellen and Jim Wayne Miller Celebration of Writing contest for their poem “I Have My Mother’s Handwriting.”

Find out more here.

Goldenrod Poetry Festival

What it is: The Goldenrod Poetry Festival is an annual event sponsored by the English Club. All majors can submit their poetry. There are ten finalists and three winners, and a visiting poet hosts a workshop for all ten finalists. 

When you can submit: Goldenrod occurs in the spring semester, and submissions are typically due in March with the workshop/award ceremony in April.

Advice: “I would say 1. to send your work to an English professor unrelated to the competition in order to get a good proofread and conceptual editing, and 2. to wait! until the deadline gets a little closer–not last minute, but closer–before submitting. Don’t submit a month early–it is pompous to think that one may not develop edits or new pieces that are better than what one has right now. And also 3. write more–gives you more from which to choose.”

• Ella Corder received 2nd place in Goldenrod in the spring of 2020 for her poem “A Sudden Sinking Feeling in the Bathroom at a Goth-Prom House Party.”

Find out more here.

Zephyrus

What it is: The Zephyrus is WKU’s fine arts literary magazine which publishes art, poetry, short stories, and creative nonfiction. 

When you can submit: The Zephyrus opens submissions in the spring semester. Submissions are typically due by the end of February, and the Zephyrus publishes by the end of the spring semester.

Advice: “’’Don’t overthink it’ would be my best advice. Especially with Zephyrus, where our peers are the editors, there’s no reason to feel intimidated or afraid of submitting work. I have a bad habit of not submitting my best stuff in fear of it being rejected, because then you think “now what?” if it’s your best and it’s turned down. But you never know if it’s good enough to submit until you submit it. And even then, a rejection is just an invitation to review and revise your work. So, send out what you write, specifically to Zephyrus, and see what happens—it’ll be okay no matter what.”

• Noah Powers’ poems “God Speaks in Blues,” “In a car park off Broadway,” and “Rising with the Sun” and his essay “Ruminations at the Grand Canyon” were published in the spring 2020 Zephyrus. “Ruminations at the Grand Canyon” also won the Wanda Gatlin Essay Award for that issue.

 Find out more here.

Student Research Conference

What it is: The Student Research Conference is an annual event for all WKU undergraduate or graduate students to share their work through presentations, performances, posters, exhibits, etc.

When you can submit: The Student Research Conference occurs in the spring semester. Abstracts are usually due by the beginning of March, and the conference takes place in April.

Advice: “When writing your abstract, make sure that it is concise and coherent. While your research is likely thorough and complex, your abstract should be easy for readers to comprehend so that they can quickly get an overview of your work. Also, there are lots of resources to help you, so be sure to use them!”

• Fallon Russell was accepted to present at the 2021 Student Research Conference for her augmentation project titled “Typographic Tone in Texting.” Her project analyzes how tone is communicated in text messages through punctuation, capitalization, and special character patterns

Find out more here. 

Kentucky Honors Roundtable

What it is: The Kentucky Honors Roundtable is similar to the Student Research Conference; however, KHR is open only to Honors students and coordinates with other Kentucky Honors programs. Although any research can be presented, several Honors students present their CE/T work at KHR.

When you can submit: The Kentucky Honors Roundtable has occurred in both the fall and spring semesters. In the fall semester, the deadline is usually in early September with the conference in late September; in the spring semester, the deadline is usually in early February with the conference in late February. Honors sends out emails with confirmation dates for KHR at the beginning of each semester. 

Advice: “When creating your abstract and preparing your presentation, reach out to a faculty member or advisor for help! If you’re submitting your CE/T project for the conference, you already have two resources in your first and second readers who are more than happy to help you prepare.”

• Adrianna Waters presented a portion of her Honors CE/T “Emmie and the Enchanted Orchid: Portraying Positive Disability Representation in Children’s Media” at the spring 2021 Kentucky Honors Roundtable. 

Find out more here.

Gender & Women’s Studies Creative Writing Contest

What it is: The Gender & Women’s Studies Creative Writing Contest is an annual event in which students can submit poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction of up to 750 words exploring feminist themes or issues. There are separate sections and winners for undergraduate and graduate students.

When you can submit: The Gender & Women’s Studies Creative Writing Contest takes place in the spring semester with the deadline typically in March.

Advice:

“This contest is a great time for anyone interested in sharing their work, especially those with work preoccupied with gendered experience and study. I would advise anyone thinking about submitting to prepare work well in advance– submit what you’re comfortable with– and don’t be afraid to write about vulnerable or tricky topics. My piece was about my own personal experiences with abortion, and putting a very personal piece of my human experience into a speaker’s viewpoint of the world made the experience all the more enlightening. Have fun and don’t be afraid to express yourself.”

• Abigail Raley received third place in the 2020 Gender & Women’s Studies Writing Contest for her piece “The Kids Table.”

Find out more here.

There are several more opportunities to submit and/or present your work for conferences, contests, journals, etc. For a list of WKU and non-WKU opportunities, check out this guide for undergraduate students and graduate students.

Be sure to keep an eye out for emails or announcements from your professors for new writing opportunities!

Meet the Tutors: Eli Edens

Writer: Abigail Raley

Editor: Adrianna Waters

Hello, writers and scholars! We wanted to take some time to introduce you to our tutor, Eli Edens. Edens is a Creative Writing student who is also majoring in Communication Studies. Others who are double majoring can look to Edens to assist with writing in any subject.

Edens’ favorite work to edit is creative work or literary analysis. Any English major looking for help in literature survey classes can rely on Edens to help with analytical papers. Additionally, Edens’ creative background makes them an ideal tutor for creatively inclined students.

Edens loves to read, and their passion for literature stems from a yearning for exploration.

“I like English because it helps you be able to explore and understand experiences and people that are far different from you,” Edens said.

Edens recommends books such as Doctor Sleep and The Shining, as they are books that anyone who loves horror will enjoy. Edens has enjoyed the book series so much that they are taking their time this semester to re-read. Edens’ love for horror makes their editing style unique, a viewpoint that few other tutors have when approaching creative work.

Edens’ parting advice for English students proves their willingness to help anyone with any subject.

“My best writing advice would probably be a reminder that it’s okay to ask for help,” Edens said. “Whether it’s from the Writing Center or from a friend, talking about what you’ve written or brainstorming ideas with another person yields excellent results in your work.”

You can schedule an appointment with Eli Edens at the Writing Center for more sound advice, or, if you feel like looking around, check out our other tutor profiles to see who may be the best fit for you!

If you are interested in setting up an appointment with Eli or another of our fantastic tutors, you can schedule an appointment with us through our online submission form. For the spring 2021 semester, we are not having in-person appointments, but you can schedule an asynchronous email appointment or a synchronous zoom appointment. Our hours are Monday-Thursday 9:00 AM- 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM- 9:00 PM, Friday 9:00 AM- 4:00 PM, and Sunday 6:00 PM- 9:00 PM. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at writingcenter@wku.edu or visit our website for more information.

Meet the Tutors: Katie Bennett

Author: Abigail Raley

Editor: Adrianna Waters

Hello, writers and scholars! We wanted to take an opportunity to let you know about our tutor, Katie Bennett. Bennett is a English for Secondary Teaching major, and she loves academic writing. Bennett is a great tutor for anyone needing help with literary analysis, but she can also help you in any field you’re working in! 

Bennett loves literature because of its diversity.

“I chose English because of how expansive it is,” she said. “I love discussing literature, analyzing arguments and syntax, writing, and so many other things that fall under the English umbrella.” 

Some of Bennett’s favorite books include One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Hobbit, and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Her love for literature makes her a great tutor. While she most enjoys editing academic criticism, Bennett’s diverse knowledge makes her a great creative tutor as well.

Bennett has advice for writers and students here at WKU. She believes that students should be well prepared before writing their papers.

“My advice is to make sure you have a clear plan ready when beginning a paper,” she said. “Whether it’s a detailed outline or just a Google doc full of ideas you wish to discuss, going in with a plan makes the writing process so much easier.” 

Come down to the Writing Center to see Katie Bennett or any of our other tutors and learn more about your writing, or check out our other tutor profiles to see who may be a good fit for you! 

If you are interested in setting up an appointment with Katie or another of our fantastic tutors, you can schedule an appointment with us through our online submission form. For the spring 2021 semester, we are not having in-person appointments, but you can schedule an asynchronous email appointment or a synchronous zoom appointment. Our hours are Monday-Thursday 9:00 AM- 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM- 9:00 PM, Friday 9:00 AM- 4:00 PM, and Sunday 6:00 PM- 9:00 PM. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at writingcenter@wku.edu or visit our website for more information.

Interning Remotely During the Summer

Author: Adrianna Waters

Summer usually brings countless possibilities for college students: summer jobs, study abroad programs, or just a break from classes and schoolwork. However, summer is also the time when many college students complete an internship; with no classes or clubs to worry about, the three months is the perfect time to learn the ropes of the workforce. Unfortunately, COVID-19 canceled or transformed internships during the summer of 2020, and although predictions look hopeful for the coming months, uncertainties still arise about the course of the pandemic in the summer. Some companies are forgoing or shortening their normal internship programs, and many others are modifying their internships to be remote.

The idea of remote internships is frustrating. We are already used to doing most of our school, work, and extracurriculars remotely, and many of us don’t want another remote task—especially during the summer when being cooped in the house feels stifling. The frustration is especially prevalent for internships because part of the experience of an internship is learning about the work environment, meeting new people, or living in a new place—all of which are difficult, if not impossible, with remote work.

However, remote internships are likely the route most companies are taking this summer, though a few companies may opt for in-person internships with masks and social distancing. Although it may not be ideal, there are several benefits to examine when considering a remote internship. 

Benefits of Remote Internships

Remote internships may not be preferred, but they have unique benefits. Depending on your field or location, your desired internships might be in a different location. In previous years, completing a summer internship was often paired with moving to a new city for the summer and finding housing. All of this is exciting—but also stressful and costly. A remote summer internship means you don’t have to fret about finding temporary housing or roommates, moving, navigating a new city, etc. Instead, you can live where it is most convenient while still gaining the benefits of an internship. This is especially important for internships in cities that are expensive or further away, like on the east or west coasts; previously, these internships may not have been an option for you because of location, but now they are open to more individuals. 

Additionally, everyone has learned to adapt to an online or remote environment—with work, with school, with clubs, and more. Even if working remotely isn’t exciting, it’s becoming a valuable skill to have. According to Forbes, during and after the pandemic, employers are looking for skills such as adaptability, communication, organization, and creativity—all of which can be fostered in a remote internship. By still gaining an internship and working remotely, you show future employers that you are adaptable to change and learned new technological skills specific to the workplace. 

Moreover, with the realization that several jobs or tasks can be completed just as easily—if not more effectively—remotely, it is predicted that even after the pandemic, some jobs may stay remote or shift to include more flexibility in the workplace. A summer internship gives you experience working an “adult” job from home, and since most summers don’t have the school season load of classes, homework, or school involvement, you learn how to balance your life when working from home.

What to Consider

If you decide to try for a remote internship, there are a few factors to consider that will improve your internship experience. Although the course of the pandemic is subject to change, scientists predict that the virus’ spread, and thus restrictions, will ease in the summer. While this won’t be enough to guarantee in-person internships, it does mean that you can safely use other locations when working. To prevent the exhaustion from always working from home, you can go to the library, a coffee shop, a bookstore, etc. Of course, the usual advice about working from home still applies in a remote internship: creating a clean workspace, taking breaks away from the screen, getting fresh air, etc.

If you have the opportunity to choose between a remote internship and an in-person internship, then you need to consider what is most important to you. Do you want to take advantage of the opportunity to not worry about housing or expenses and go for a dream internship that may not have been a possibility before? Or is it more important to find a local internship that still has some in-person factors so you can get an experience closer to what your job will look like?

It’s also important to examine the field and contents of your internship. Is your internship something that won’t shift too much as a remote position? For example, several English-related internships involve writing, editing, social media, marketing, etc. While these would benefit from an in-person environment, they can still happen remotely without a major change in what you do/learn. However, internships that prioritize interactions, such as teaching internships, are drastically different in-person or online.

Resources

If you’re still struggling with the idea of a remote internship or aren’t sure which modality to pursue, here are some resources to check out.

If you need help finding or securing an internship in the age of COVID, APA provides a few steps to gear you in the right direction:

How to get that internship during COVID-19: A step-by-step guide

If you choose a remote internship over the summer, career website Handshake offers some tips for working productively. Handshake is also a great website to browse for career or internship postings, similar to LinkedIn:

6 Ways to Make the Most of a Remote Internship

Meet the Tutors: Kayla Beebout

Author: Abigail Raley

Editor: Adrianna Waters

Hello, writers and scholars! We wanted to take a moment to introduce you to our tutor Kayla Beebout. Beebout is a first-year English graduate student. Her love for creative writing makes her the perfect tutor for any of your creative writing courses!

Of her favorite work to edit, Beebout said that she loves to work on fiction and creative nonfiction writing. Because of her expertise in these fields, Beebout is a great tutor for anyone looking for higher graduate-level insight into how to craft creative pieces. Her love for literature shows through her interest in books, and her love for fiction makes her a great choice for those in the fiction concentration.

Beebout loves J.R.R Tolkien and anything by Shakespeare. Those taking early modern literature courses can count on her as a resource for academic writing as well. Beebout recommends that everyone read these writers, as they’ve helped her realize her own potential as a reader and writer.

Beebout is interested in the communicative nature of English, and it is this preoccupation which makes her a great tutor.

“I think English teaches how to share ideas with others, which is how we grow as humans” she said. “I also think that literature in particular helps us experience more of life than we could otherwise.”

Beebout wanted to share some of her own personal advice for writing with WKU students.

“Write first and edit later,” Beebout said. ”After you get your thoughts down, then you can spend time making them pretty (and checking grammar).”

Come see Kayla Beebout at the Writing Center! We guarantee that you will learn more about your subject, yourself, and your writing. Check out more of our tutor profiles to learn who is the best tutor for you!

If you are interested in setting up an appointment with Kayla or another of our fantastic tutors, you can schedule an appointment with us through our online submission form. For the spring 2021 semester, we are not having in-person appointments, but you can schedule an asynchronous email appointment or a synchronous zoom appointment. Our hours are Monday-Thursday 9:00 AM- 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM- 9:00 PM, Friday 9:00 AM- 4:00 PM, and Sunday 6:00 PM- 9:00 PM. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at writingcenter@wku.edu or visit our website for more information.

Meet the Tutors: Caroline Galdi

Author: Abigail Raley

Editor: Adrianna Waters

Hello, writers and scholars! We wanted to take a moment to introduce you to our tutor Caroline Galdi. Galdi is a graduate student pursuing an MFA in fiction with a focus in TESOL. Galdi graduated from UNC-Greensboro in 2020, and her diversity of knowledge and love for creative writing makes her the perfect tutor for you!

“I love reading anything that the Writing Center sends my way because it lets me see what people are doing in every part of the university!” Galdi said. “Getting to read research papers for fields I never even knew existed is one of the perks of my job.”

Most of all, though, Caroline is the go-to tutor for ENG 100. She’s so excited to teach her first ENG 100 course next year, and reading papers for students in those classes now helps her prepare for the future.

Galdi, as all us English majors do, loves to read, and from a young age, she loved books.

“I ate a lot of books when I was a small child, and never really grew out of that,” Galdi said. “These days I try to only “devour” books in the metaphorical sense.”

All jokes aside, Galdi has loved to learn literature with a critical eye.

“I can’t recommend it highly enough,” Galdi said.

Her favorite book is Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, she also recommends writers such as Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, Margaret Atwood, and Ted Chiang.

Caroline had some parting advice for Writing Center students:

“My writing advice is to read! The more you read, the better you’ll be able to write. It doesn’t have to be a chore,” Galdi said. “There are tons of great books out there, so shop around and find something that you enjoy.”

Come visit Caroline Galdi at the Writing Center for help on anything from fiction to analytical work. She’s waiting and excited to see your work.

If you are interested in setting up an appointment with Caroline or another of our fantastic tutors, you can schedule an appointment with us through our online submission form. For the spring 2021 semester, we are not having in-person appointments, but you can schedule an asynchronous email appointment or a synchronous zoom appointment. Our hours are Monday-Thursday 9:00 AM- 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM- 9:00 PM, Friday 9:00 AM- 4:00 PM, and Sunday 6:00 PM- 9:00 PM. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at writingcenter@wku.edu or visit our website for more information.

Meet the Tutors: Jake Dressman

Author: Abigail Raley

Editor: Adrianna Waters

Hello, writers and scholars! We wanted to take a moment to introduce you all to one of our tutors, Jake Dressman. Jake has a wide range of interests, and his diversity of knowledge and enthusiasm for the written word will help you realize your best writing yet. 

Jake’s passion for creative writing makes him the perfect tutor to bring your creative work.

 “It can be tough to help others with their creative works because my wheels start spinning and I have so many comments,” Jake said. “So I have to kind of restrain myself to be a good assistant in the process.” 

However, Jake also loves reviewing research papers. His specialization in both areas makes him a diverse tutor that you can count on, no matter what the genre. Jake’s favorite subjects include biology, pharmacology, and future technologies. Jake’s favoritism towards STEM subjects makes him the perfect tutor for any science focused majors that may need a little extra help this semester. 

As to Jake’s diversity in interest, his love for English is the culprit.

“English is our opportunity to answer the why,” Jake said. “Body language and pictures and video are all great, but nothing translates the human psyche as well as words on a page.” 

Before you come and visit Jake at the Writing Center, he offers some advice for those writing under any genre at all:

“Dive into research, or your own personal experiences. Even if you don’t care about reading and writing, you should care about your ideas and where they come from.” 

And that isn’t all! Jake also recommends some of his favorite books to Writing Center patrons, new and old: Into the Wild by Jack Krakauer, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, and The Stranger by Albert Camus. 

Jake’s love for creative writing and academic writing alike make him the ideal tutor for any student here at WKU, and his passion and dedication to finding the “why” in literature will spur him forth into academia, making him the best tutor for you. Come on and visit Jake at the Writing Center and, in his words, “Discover more about yourself and the world around you.” 

If you are interested in setting up an appointment with Jake or another of our fantastic tutors, you can schedule an appointment with us through our online submission form. For the spring 2021 semester, we are not having in-person appointments, but you can schedule an asynchronous email appointment or a synchronous zoom appointment. Our hours are Monday-Thursday 9:00 AM- 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM- 9:00 PM, Friday 9:00 AM- 4:00 PM, and Sunday 6:00 PM- 9:00 PM. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at writingcenter@wku.edu or visit our website for more information.