Hello everyone! My blog today is all about my experience at the Penn State library and learning center. In high school, I didn’t take advantage of my resources my school provided me. I never went to the learning centers to have my essays reviewed and never really went to the library often. The only time I had my essay reviewed by someone in my high school’s learning center was for my Common App essay for colleges. The point is going to the Penn State library and learning centers were new experiences.
When I went to the library with my class, I didn’t know what to expect. This really nice librarian was very helpful with describing resources the Penn State library provides. She walked our class through the steps of checking out books and finding helpful resources. She was very kind and represented the librarians well because now I don’t feel scared to ask any questions I have. The library had a warm and welcoming feel. I can’t wait to utilize the Penn State library over the next 4 years. They have so many books inside that I’m sure I can find whatever I need for my future classes. If the University Park campus doesn’t have a book, there’s a really easy way to have books delivered here from other Penn State campuses! I feel very lucky to attend a school with such a large variety of books and resources.
I also went to the learning center to have my critical reading essay reviewed last week. It was very easy to make an appointment, only took 5 minutes. I went on Starfish to make the appointment a week in advance as I knew their times would fill fast. The day of my meeting, I walked from my dorm to the Boucke Building, about a 15-minute walk. There, I signed in with a lady at the desk and then sat down with my tutor. My tutor was very nice, his name was Mark. I told him about my assignment and brought a printed version of my rough draft for him to review. He had me read the essay out loud to him and we stopped at the end of each paragraph to discuss anything he noticed. He helped me by pointing out sentences I could’ve worded more effectively and providing some more detail in my essay. I also asked him about italicizing and some other grammar questions. He wrote down the revision notes as we went, and I took a picture of his notes to look at later to revise my essay. I thanked him at the end of our meeting, which lasted around 30 minutes, and gave him a good review. Walking out of the meeting, I felt confident with my essay after having another person review it. After I made some revisions to my essay and was ready to turn in my paper, I felt like I was going to get a good grade. Sometimes when I turn in essays, I get worried if my essay was bad, but after the appointment at the learning center I genuinely felt good about what I turned in. This appointment has made me want to come back to have my essays for this class and future classes reviewed. I’m so glad this resource is easily accessible!
I’ve learned that Penn State has a lot of easy and free resources on campus. I can’t wait to explore more resources my school has to offer! I highly recommend students take advantage of both the library and learning center. That’s all for now, see you for my next blog!
Contact: akb6783@psu.edu or ashley_beres1 on twitter
