Last week the Rose Scholars had a discussion with Cynthia Hill, a visiting researcher interested mostly in biology teaching and learning at the undergraduate level. She talked to us about what corrections mean when we, the students, see them on our written works. Most of the time, students may not look forward to having “red ink smeared across their paper,” because it gives a sense of failure instead of doing a good job. However, corrections are what ultimately help a student become a better writer and should be seen as a helping tool instead of a nuisance.

Much of what a teacher or teacher’s assistant writes on a formal or informal essay is to assist the student in finding ways to better communicate their ideas. It’s very easy to type out an essay and think that it is perfect, even after a thorough revision, and miss grammar mistakes, odd sentence structures, and forget to connect the various ideas to the overall topic of the essay. It could be a great portrayal of one’s thoughts, but if the supporting paragraphs do not really connect, then there is no point. Outlining one’s ideas to try and organize them before writing can help one plan out what they are going to write, in what order, and see if the ideas flow and make sense. For some, it does not help because one usually goes back and revises one’s work later on, so simply writing an essay and then going back and revising it multiple times may be a better technique.

Ultimately, the hardest but most essential part of writing any piece of information, whether it be for a psychology, science, or english course, is to have one’s own voice when communicating. It helps grab the readers attention and makes the piece of literature more engaging to read instead of a bland straight forward report. Though there are times when one must simply report the facts, there is a way to insert emotion when conveying an informative topic. It was really helpful to sit down and chat with Mrs. Hill; she is passionate not only about biology but also about helping all students find ways to better their writing skills and enjoy talking about their subject matter. As a communication major, I understand the necessity to be a great writer and appreciated the thoughtfulness she presented during our discussion.