Miller Writing Center

Miller Writing Center

My senior year of college, I was hired by Auburn’s Office of University Writing to work as a Peer Consultant. Through this opportunity, I was able to hold individual consultations with 100+ student clients with a variety of writing projects across modalities, disciplines and educational experience.

Consulting Philosophy

Writing is my passion. As cliché as that sounds, I have come to realize that, for me, it’s true. I am most comfortable when putting my thoughts on paper; turning a blank page into something tagine and real. That magic of written works—academic and creative—is what first drew me to creating my own works and to the Miller Writing Center (MWC). As a peer consultant at the MWC, I’ve learned that there are a lot of tools and strategies behind quality written works. My role in University Writing was to help make those tools accessible to clients, so that they can feel the freedom and confidence that comes from expressing their ideas clearly on paper

A core part of my consulting approach is leaning into the “peer” side of peer-consultant. To me, this meant addressing my student-clients at eye-level; I am not an expert on their project, merely another set of eyes and ears to bounce ideas off of. Because of this, my first priority in any consultation is making sure clients feel at ease. I carried this out through dedicating the first few minutes of every appointment to small talk, as well as being honest about my own difficulties in writing. I know that writing—and sharing it—is vulnerable work, so making my clients feel at ease with me as a person is at the forefront of each of my meetings.

Additionally, I continue this process of inspiring confidence in the students that work with me by clearly uplifting their skills. One of the mantras of the MWC is that there are “no bad writers,” which is something I wholly agree with. Over the course of my many student sessions, I learned that an essential part of assisting with other people’s writing is complimenting the work they have already done. Even just making an appointment with University Writing shows that the student is dedicated to their work. I make sure that every client is complimented in our sessions, so that any revision advice or critique is accompanied with an awareness of the work they have already put in.

In my sessions, I try to provide advice and guidance in a question-oriented format. This open-ended process begins with asking the client what they want to accomplish in our 50-minute meeting. After this, I review their prompt, rubric, and any other guidelines or feedback for the writing project they brought in. Then, we review the current state of their assignment. If a client wants overarching edits, I review the project by reading it aloud to the client. Otherwise, I have the student pick out areas of the project where they are not as confident, and we work on revising these specific spots of the project. Usually, I like to use dynamic tools—like dry erase boards or notebook drafts—to work out smaller line-edits.

My ultimate goal in every writing session is not just to help the client improve their current piece, but to equip them with strategies that can improve all of their writing going forward. To me, this means not fixing every issue with a written piece, but ensuring that a client learns how to avoid similar mistakes in later projects. Like the MWC states, I believe in letting the client “hold the pen,” literally and figuratively. My job is to support from a peer perspective—not take over. I want each client to leave with more confidence in their writing skills, a stronger project to turn in, and a few more tools for their next assignment

At the heart of my philosophy is the belief that writing, while it can often feel intimidating, even to seasoned writers, is a skill that everyone has and that anyone can improve.

Student Reviews

  • "Caroline was very welcoming and genuinely interested in my writing goals. She was really helpful in letting me decide what I wanted to talk about while also providing options when I ran out of specific questions."

    — Anonymous Client

  • “She was amazing!! So extremely helpful. She helped me get my own ideas onto the paper and knew the questions to ask to get me thinking. She was so knowledgeable. I had a great experience.”

    — Anonymous Client

  • “Caroline did an amazing job at helping me adjust the wording of my projects so that they flow better and were grammatically correct. I appreciated the way that she worked through my projects paragraph by paragraph, giving very specific feedback throughout.”

    — Anonymous Client

Additional Experience

Hiring Comittee

A way that I have been able to get additionally involved with University Writing during my time as a peer consultant is through serving as a member of our Hiring Committee. As a member, I am responsible for informing myself about equitable hiring practices, reviewing dozens of anonymized applicants short answer questions, and assisting in the interview process. This opportunity has allowed me to learn more about equitable hiring processes and deepen my understanding of how to combat my own bias throughout. Because of this role, I know the background of ethical hiring, and hope to apply the practices I learned to future career opportunities.

Professional Certification

While I was working at the Miller Writing Center, I was able to acquire a badge through my training on oral communication. This means I completed the PD coursework that enabled me to teach students public speaking writing, editing, and performance. Additionally, for the Hiring Committee I completed coursework that resulted certification for Uncovering Unconcious Bias. This course was essential in our hiring process process, and I will take what I learned with me for future ventures.