There are plenty of tutors in the Writing Center. All of them are completely unique individuals. Starting today, we'll be posting pieces of writings by our very own tutors, hopefully helping you all get to know them even better. The stress of high school is something that falls upon everybody, it’s like a concept everyone is familiar with. It’s nothing foreign; it’s nothing new Even though it may feel as if I’m drowning in disappointing grades and time-consuming AP readings, I know I’m just floating on top of it all with my eyes closed, waiting for one final thing to pull me under. It’s as if I’m walking on a tightrope—body tense and the slightest sense of relief or change will cause me to lose my balance. I didn’t expect to feel so drained, as though all my energy was flowing from my body with each history paper I wrote, math test I took, or science lab I completed. It’s not just the piles on piles of schoolwork that deprive me of my full eight hours of sleep. It’s one or two hours of soccer conditioning; it’s the the need to actually keep my social life intact so I don’t go crazy. It’s trying to have some time for just me so I can prepare myself to do everything all over again. When I first entered high school, I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t excited. I didn’t feel prepared for what the year was going to throw at me; I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to catch it. I took all honors my freshmen year. Every voice, including my counselors, and fiber of my being told me I shouldn’t, but I was worrying about what colleges would think and what they would consider as excellence. It’s been that way ever since. Everything I do, every award I achieve, every grade I earn is evaluated on how it helps me move toward a better future, a future where I’m happy and I’m living a successful life and supporting the family I hope to have. Everything leads to that, somehow. All of it connects to one another, like a row of dominoes leading into three different paths. You just don’t know which path your domino will knock down. I’m not really sure where I’ll be in five or ten years. I don’t even know where I’ll be in two. I just hope for the best, and I hope that my skills and my smarts will enough to carry me across the threshold into adulthood. Hope that the obstacles I face won’t be impossible for me to get over, just challenging enough for me to learn from. I know it won’t be the smoothest transition... it definitely won’t be the easiest, and most likely, for me, the most emotional. I’m not afraid of the future. I’m afraid of what it’ll take to get there. Will I lose my way and all of this stress be for nothing? Or will all of it pay off when I’m living in my giant mansion with a maid and a personal chef? I guess I won’t really find out until I get there. In all honesty, the question of “Will I ever be good enough?” becomes a recurring question in my head. A question I’m afraid to hear the answer to. If the answer is yes, maybe the life I have planned out for myself in my head will become a reality. If the answer is no, well I don't really want to think about that one. All I know is that my future isn’t mapped out. I haven’t chose which domino I’m gonna knock down. Will I be able to float to shore by myself, or will life drift me farther into the my own hardship and keep me there until something finally pulls me under. I can only hold my breathe for so long. - Destiny Price Million Dollars
"Have you ever made a million dollars with your talent? Have you ever-" Pause. I can't say that, but my brain says it over and over cause it's all I can remember, As I sit and try to focus it's like I've been struck by a lightning and shook by thunder. Bang! Boom! Blaw! I don't know my actions and am forced to surrender. To the thump thump thump that leads the way to slumber. I am in a place, a place, a wonderful place Where the world is black and there's infinite space My worries and troubles disappears as I hear the creak of the gates The doors that lead to freedom, away from all I can't explain, i can't maintain, I don't stay the same, when I'm gone my hands move in disdain I can't be tamed, I can't stay lame, I must move, I can't be contained Going, going, gone, gone. I depart from this world as I stand and thump. I sit, I bump, I feel like Donald Trump Cause I'm in an oasis of flawlessness where everyone else around me looks dumb. They have no idea what it's like to be free and feel blissfully numb. Not from drugs, not from sleep, but from lyrics and beatings of a drum. My ancestors prayed and sang to one day see The freedom and joy that resides in me Not from food nor drink, but a beat A million dollars cannot buy The artist, yes, but the art, oh my Flawless, priceless, thoughtless, why? So easy it could be done by even fly guy As I sit and write and ponder without thought About this lyrical art that is youthfully sought As I read and look for the end of this plot To describe music, which with a million dollars, could never be bought. - Yaw Osei
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...With the Writing Center! Happy Friday Hawks! Our tutors enjoyed a day off campus today, attending a Writing Center conference at George Mason University Fairfax campus. The Hawk Writing Center tutors attended CAPTA Connects 2015, presented by the Capital Area Tutoring Association (CAPTA). Our amazing sponsor, Ms. Passino, is a board member and our photos from last year have been featured on the CAPTA website. Last year our tutors attended their first CAPTA hosted conference, held at nearby Edison High School. In preparation for today’s conference, tutors submitted their proposals in the spring of the previous school year, and have been working diligently ever since. There was even a large group who stayed after yesterday to finish up their handouts and posters. The tutors gained new knowledge on a variety of Writing Center topics and are looking forward to implementing them in the upcoming year! Feel free to browse the day's schedule and the best snapshots below :) Don’t believe us, check out the awesomeness that is CAPTA: Capital Area Peer Tutoring Association (CAPTA) website- http://captawritingcenters.org/
Hello Hawks! It’s that time of year again, College Essay season. Unfortunately many seniors dread this task and will react to the words "College Essay" with a groan. However, the Hawk Writing Center has a solution. The Center will be hosting not one but two College Essay Workshops this quarter! One-on-one tutoring and a presentation on what defines a College Essay will be available at each event. These workshops are open to any Senior Hawks, anywhere in the writing process: from procrastinating to those just wishing to go through a final reading. The HWC is here for you! Just sign up online (the Kingstown library website for tonight’s otherwise refer to Family Connection on Blackboard) and remember to bring with you a printed copy of your current work and a pen to take notes.
Okay, I'll stop trying to make #HawkWalk happen. The HWC's cake walk will be this Thursday, May 7th. It will start at half-time around 7 PM at the boys soccer home game. Entries are just $2, and there will be a winner every time! Attached is the flyer, we hung up in the hallways in the school, so hopefully it looks familiar. Currently, the cake walk is our last planned fundraiser of the year (cue the feels). However, we have a few parties planned before the end of the year (new tutors you are in luck)! The HWC looks forward to seeing everyone Thursday night!
You see them everywhere, and now they are at the Writing Center-MEMES! Yes those memes, as a way for the HWC to raise awareness about the Advanced Composition classes, our memes were born. Now presented without further ado... Hey Hayfield Hawks! We have made it through to the third quarter and the second half of the school year. Which means the Hawk Writing Center has been open for four months! In four short months we have accomplished, so much. Our Chipotle fundraiser made a whooping $365 (a dollar for each day of the year), we went and represented at a few conferences (one at Edison and one in Orlando), and of course worked hard creating this innovative blog to update the Hayfield community by sharing our successes. However....we are not finished yet! We have another conference trip planned for April (at James Madison University where our spectacular sponsor Ms. Passino is an alum). We continue to work in our committees toward getting the Hawk Writing Center's message out there by reaching students who never thought of writing as art. Coming soon- thanks to the support of Mrs. Poquis, the center will be open during SOAR (4th period)! Okay, enough words- here are some never before seen HWC pictures! It's no trouble. Especially when you involve your friends. Tutors try their hand at creating catchy titles, for the interactive component of my WID (Writing in the Disciplines) project. The topic, you guessed it- blogging! A bound copy of all the tutors' papers will be available soon!
Senior Hawks- the second College Essay Workshop from the Hawk Writing Center is on December 16th. The workshop will be held during SOAR time and will encompass a presentation on what colleges look for in your essays and time for individual tutoring sessions with adult volunteers and the tutors from the HWC! To sign up for the workshop log on to Blackboard and go to Family Connections-College Visits. Hawks let's get those apps done! |
Who are we?
We are the tutors of the Hawk Writing Center! See more under the 'About' tab. Archives
May 2017
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