Note: I also shared
this on my editing website, with a few changes, HERE. I wanted to share my experience with this extraordinary
student with you, dear readers. But feel free to also check out my other
website if you’d like.
Years ago when I was a graduate
student, I taught mostly freshmen in writing classes at a state university in
Ohio.
One semester I started a class of
112 writing, the top level. It was the last hurdle for the students. Unless
their majors required other writing classes, that was the last one they had to
take.
On that first day of class, after
I had dismissed the students, a young woman stayed after to talk with me. Vickie
told me she had taken 112 before but was choosing to take it again because she
didn’t feel like she had learned enough or become strong enough of a writer.
Would I be willing to spend extra
time with her between classes helping her with her writing?
So we began. Usually I assigned
one essay a week, with classes built around both form and content. Every week,
Vickie visited my office and brought me her draft essay, which I read and then
discussed with her.
We talked about what her main idea
really was and whether or not she was hiding it among the other ideas. We
talked about different ways to organize her work. We talked about sentence
structure and word choice.
I never told Vickie how to write
the essay. But I gave her feedback and new ideas to consider.
She wasn’t getting special
treatment from me. My door was open to all my students. But Vickie consistently
took advantage of the help.
One day we were discussing some
things going on in her life. She was a graphic arts major and was on the
university swim team. I was never particularly artistic and definitely never
athletic.
“I’ve always wanted to be an
artist,” I said.
“I’ve always wanted to be a good
student,” she said.
You are a good student, I told
her. You work hard. You’re improving in your writing. You should be proud of
yourself, I told her.
Vickie ended the class by getting
a solid B. She was so pleased with herself. And I was so proud of her.
And I was so impressed with her willingness to practice to get better.
I’ve thought of Vickie often
through the years, and when I was considering writing about her, I came up with
these lessons she taught me about the importance of practice.
·
Make the
decision to get better at something. I don’t believe you drift into a
practice. You make a decision that you will begin a practice. Making a decision
shows commitment. Vickie committed to taking a class she had already taken and wasn’t
required to retake.
·
Put in
the time. Practice takes time. Whether it is 15 minutes a day or an hour a
week, working to become better takes time. Even with a busy schedule as a
student-athlete, Vickie made time to work on her writing.
·
Put in
the effort. Vickie had to make the effort to write a draft in time for me
to review it with her before she revised it. She couldn’t blow off the
assignment until right before it was due. She had to work on it, then work on
it some more.
·
Don’t try
to go it alone. Vickie enlisted help. That help in her writing endeavor was
me. She didn’t have to struggle alone. I could offer not only technical
assistance, but encouragement. We all need encouragement.
·
Persevere.
I’m sure Vickie got tired of pouring so much time into writing essays that had
nothing to do with her major classes. But she didn’t give up. She kept showing
up in class and at my office door.
And here is what I’m sharing with you that I didn’t on my editing
website.
It has been about 25 years since Vickie was my student. Some years
after Vickie was my student, I read in an alumni magazine that she had passed
away after a car accident.
Even though I had not seen or spoken with Vickie for about five years
at that time, the news of her death hit me hard. It hurt to think that this
talented, beautiful, kind young woman had lost her life so early.
So my memories of Vickie are very special to me. She taught me a lot
that I want to share with others.
How important is practice to you
when learning something new? Have you ever known a person who taught you
lessons about the importance of practice?
