Many San Jose State students, like myself prior, may never consider tutoring during their undergraduate career. Now, that may be for reasons such as a lack of confidence in one’s academic abilities, the self-imposed belief that you might not be chalked up to tutor, or simply due to time constraints. I hope that what I’m about to share will help change your perspective!

Never having personally tutored anyone in my life, I was wary of bringing myself to apply as a Writing Consultant in the Communication Center. My grades were good, but that alone wouldn’t qualify me to be an effective tutor. What ultimately encouraged me to apply, interestingly enough, was the simple idea of being able to connect with and help others with their writing and speech assignments. This would not be an opportunity to show off my public speaking skills or writing eloquence, but rather the chance to make a difference in my school’s community and offer myself as a resource. Whether or not we as tutors ourselves have sought out tutoring services at one point or another, we should be at least be able to understand that public speaking and essay-writing can be difficult and nerve-wracking!

If you’re on the fence about applying to be a COMM Center tutor next semester, I’ll leave you with my (naturally) unbiased take on the experiences I’ve had so far. I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to connect with a number of students and help develop their writing, be part of a positive environment and culture here in the COMM Center, and ultimately learned how to better my own writing and speech-development as a result. I could not be more appreciative of both my decision to apply and my acceptance as a tutor, and I hope you would consider it as well.

“Come in with an open mind and be outgoing!” Advises tutor Megan Jose, “You’ll be surrounded by friendly people in a place you can hopefully consider another home.”

Tutoring isn’t for everyone, but it is a challenge that I think has the ability to enrich both your interpersonal skill set and undergraduate experience overall. For me it was a simple decision in the end: I believe helping others is a great way to help yourself.

As Vincenzo Dorio concludes, “Tutoring has been one of the most fulfilling experiences on campus for me. It’s a fun, engaging, and rewarding opportunity to give back to the campus and department that I’ve been a part of these past few years.” 

— Philip Bair, Writing Consultant Fall 2017

The Bolt Magazine will be launching its spring issue next week on May 7th at 4pm in the COMM Center.

What’s extra exciting this semester is that not only is there a new online magazine issue coming out, but The Bolt staff have also published an anthology of selected pieces from past issues entitled The Best of The Bolt.

The Bolt began in the spring of 2013. Featuring flash non-fiction from primarily SJSU students, the magazine lives online at www.theboltmagazine.com. Funded by the AANAPISI grant and the Communication Studies Department, The Bolt is published by the COMM Center Writing Consultants.

The Best of The Bolt is the first print publication from The Bolt Magazine.  For more information, email boltmagazinesjsu [at] gmail [dot] com.

The COMM Centers Peer Advising program was officially launched in 2014, and is continuing to be a help to current or future COMMrads this Spring. The team is here to help as many students as possible with questions regarding our COMM major, course selection, and to get them excited about what our degree has to offer.

The San José State University Communication Center Writing Consultants have launched The Bolt Magazine Spring 2015 Contest. The Bolt Magazine is a flash non-fiction magazine consisting of short and factual micro-essays and memoirs.

This semester’s themed The Jolt section will be inspired by the hashtag “#thingswehate.”

The Bolt Magazine offers an opportunity for writers to express true stories on real perspectives, the world, or anything of importance to them. It consists of all original work, 250 words or less.

The deadline for the contest is April 1, 2015. All submissions will be considered for publication for the upcoming issue. First prize is a $50 gift certificate to the Spartan Bookstore.

The Communication Center writing consultants have been publishing The Bolt Magazine since the spring of 2013. To find out more information, please visit http://theboltmagazine.com or email boltmagazinesjsu@gmail.com.

– Jennifer Tran 

Jennifer Tran is a COMM Center writing consultant. You can find out more about her on the writing consultants’ blog.

Rigo Flores, Fall 2014 Peer Advisor

This semester, the COMM Center proudly introduces new peer advisors, who are dedicated to helping Communication Studies students navigate the process of which classes to take, what kind of courses to enroll in, and how to succeed in their studies.

Our peer advisors rely on their experience and knowledge to direct students to the variety of resources that the Communication Studies Department has to offer. Peer advisors emphasize listening and clear communication, acknowledging that they are here to help their fellow students succeed.

Rigo Flores, one of the new peer advisors, explained, “We are not faculty advisors, so we can’t sign forms or deal with complex situations, but we can give students advise on a peer-to-peer level and do our best to answer any questions students might have for us.”

Rigo Flores is in the COMM Center on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. For a full calendar of the peer advisors’ shifts visit our website.

— Adam Au

Adam Au is a COMM Center Writing Consultant. You can find out more about him on the Writing Consultant Blog.