One of my first jobs as an educator was a part-time position at a
community college writing center. I remember exactly the day I saw the job
notice posted on the Campus Career Center board.
I felt like it was speaking to me. As I have mentioned in my previous
post, I have always been passionate about writing and here was a job where I
can get paid for tutoring someone to write.
Now, I may have loved writing, but I didn’t necessarily feel that I am an extraordinary writer but something spoke to me in that job post that I wrote down the email address and sent my resume by the end of the day. Less than a week later, I was contacted to come in for an in-person interview. I was ecstatic. And nervous.
I can just close my eyes now and relive the entire process: finding the address online, taking the 7 train to Queens, reminiscing on my way there about taking this same train multiple times in the past as I attended a private school in Queens in Middle School, getting off right after Queensboro Plaza instead of two stations later like before, looking at everything for the first time, following the rush of students who were [probably] on their way to where I was going (LaGuardia Community College), getting there and not at all sure how to find Building “E”, where does it say what building it is? Giving up, asking around, [oh, it was right in front of me all along], entering the school, being able to get in just by showing my CCNY (City College of New York) ID as it’s part of the same CUNY system, feeling pretty cool about that, asking a couple of people on my way there to make sure I am in the right place, the building that will lead me to the Writing Center, finding a very nice cafĂ©/lounge place right before reaching the Writing Center, making a note of getting some coffee after the interview, and finally finding the doors to the Writing Center.
The first area that was to be seen was packed with students, sitting on the chairs, paper in hand, some of them were scribbling something on their papers, mostly looking nervous and restless, and a woman wearing a worried expression sitting behind a desk, speaking to a landline telephone. As soon as I entered and she saw me and gave me a clipboard. I noticed that she must think I am a student as it seemed to be the “sign-in sheet”. She was talking on the phone so I felt like I should wait for her to be done and then tell her that I’m not a student. She noticed that I wanted to say something so she brought down the phone, held it to her chest and waited for me to speak. “Oh I’m here for the tutoring job interview with Mr. Eisenstadt?” Before she could respond, I heard a very friendly voice behind me, “she’s with me!” I turned around to see a tall man with a noticeably big mustache, with a knit vest, smiling at me. “You must be Mahla!” I was relieved; “yes, hi.” He held out his hand to shake mine and turned around and said “Follow me”.
As I followed him to his office, I presumed, I first passed a room with a huge table, kind of like a conference room but not really, and maybe one or two people who were eating, I also passed small “rooms” I want to say but they were more similar to cubicles as they were open rooms with no doors, white boards in each, a table, and two to three students sitting at the table and speaking. I wonder if tutoring sessions were being conducted in these rooms. I followed Bert, as he insisted on anyone meeting him to call him that, to his office. It was a very small room, smaller than the first room I passed with the big table. The first thing I noticed in his room was the stack of papers and books behind the desk, on the desk and under the desk. There were some plants that looked half-dead, he went behind his desk to sit down and I sat on the chair in front of the desk. Bert took out a paper from one of the stack of papers and studied it carefully, at this point, I knew that this was my resume.
I won’t go into detail about what was said in my interview, but I do want to point out the very smart psychological “test” that Bert took. After speaking for a bit about why I want to be a tutor at LGCC and why I think students sometimes have difficulty writing, Bert gave me a “scenerio” question. I believe he uses this scenerio question in all of his interviews to this day so I won’t give the details of the scenerio but what he did want to test is the humility of a candidate. When does a tutor decide that he or she just doesn’t know the answer to a question, or how to help a student, and when or whether he or she will ask someone about it?! Will the tutor decide that I’m not qualified to make a call about whether this student should fail or not and will he or she eventually ask for help? In my answer, after making different “attempts” to help the student, I suggested that I would ask Bert himself or other supervisors (Linda, I later found out was the name of the woman wearing the worried expression at the front desk).
I could immediately tell that this answer clearly pleased Bert. He mentioned that yes, when you just try different methods and it doesn’t work out, you have to ask for help. You don’t even have to ask him or other supervisors, sometimes just asking another peer tutor might do the job. I started working at the LaGuardia Writing Center shortly after my interview, the following week I believe. This was exactly 8 years ago, April 2008. As I became more acquainted with the Writing Center, I fell more and more in love with Writing Center Tutoring and more so with the culture at the LaGuardia Writing Center. Bert Eisenstadt, to this day, is the Writing Center Director there. He is one of the best in the business. It is not just his interviewing skills either. Other than being an exceptional professor in his regular courses, he is also a brilliant leader. At my time at LGCC Writing Center, Bert held bi-weekly paid training sessions for all the tutors, especially newer ones in not only Grammar, Writing techniques, the assignments that are given to students, but also he taught tutors how to tutor.
Now, during my time at LGCC WC, I learned more and more that tutoring is not just a skill, but it’s an art. And just like any other form of art, practice makes perfect, but training is also a great tool. Bert held many workshops at the WC throughout the year. At times, he would close up the WC completely for an hour or two to hold these training sessions. The tutors got paid for attending these workshops and learned how to do their jobs well in the process. Not only was this helpful training for the tutors, but it also gave a chance for tutors to come together to interact with each other in a friendly learning environment. Bert even provided lunch, at times, in these training sessions, which truly fostered a team-building environment.
Until I was living in New York, I worked at the WC on and off for 6 years. Let me just say this: that is the longest I have worked in one place, ever. My life pulled me to different locations throughout my life and I sometimes either got too busy or was not physically around to tutor at LGCC WC. However, something always pulled me back there and every time I went back, I was accepted and embraced with open arms. I always felt welcomed. In fact, Bert was not only an amazing boss to me but to me, he was also an adviser, mentor, and advocate. He helped me get an adjunct position as an Instructor at LGCC by recommending me to the chair at the English Department. To this day, Bert is the first person I turn to when I need professional guidance. He is truly an inspiration and I continue to aspire to be more like him. In fact, my passion is to pursue a PhD in Composition and Rhetoric and become a Writing Center Director and perhaps continue his legacy on the West Coast.
Thank you for everything Bert. I hope you get to read this. :)
Many Blessings,
Meela (Ginger)
"Looking for tutors at
the LaGuardia Community College...work one-on-one with students on every aspect
of the writing process…tutors provide writing assistance…outlining, grammar,
style.”
Now, I may have loved writing, but I didn’t necessarily feel that I am an extraordinary writer but something spoke to me in that job post that I wrote down the email address and sent my resume by the end of the day. Less than a week later, I was contacted to come in for an in-person interview. I was ecstatic. And nervous.
I can just close my eyes now and relive the entire process: finding the address online, taking the 7 train to Queens, reminiscing on my way there about taking this same train multiple times in the past as I attended a private school in Queens in Middle School, getting off right after Queensboro Plaza instead of two stations later like before, looking at everything for the first time, following the rush of students who were [probably] on their way to where I was going (LaGuardia Community College), getting there and not at all sure how to find Building “E”, where does it say what building it is? Giving up, asking around, [oh, it was right in front of me all along], entering the school, being able to get in just by showing my CCNY (City College of New York) ID as it’s part of the same CUNY system, feeling pretty cool about that, asking a couple of people on my way there to make sure I am in the right place, the building that will lead me to the Writing Center, finding a very nice cafĂ©/lounge place right before reaching the Writing Center, making a note of getting some coffee after the interview, and finally finding the doors to the Writing Center.
The first area that was to be seen was packed with students, sitting on the chairs, paper in hand, some of them were scribbling something on their papers, mostly looking nervous and restless, and a woman wearing a worried expression sitting behind a desk, speaking to a landline telephone. As soon as I entered and she saw me and gave me a clipboard. I noticed that she must think I am a student as it seemed to be the “sign-in sheet”. She was talking on the phone so I felt like I should wait for her to be done and then tell her that I’m not a student. She noticed that I wanted to say something so she brought down the phone, held it to her chest and waited for me to speak. “Oh I’m here for the tutoring job interview with Mr. Eisenstadt?” Before she could respond, I heard a very friendly voice behind me, “she’s with me!” I turned around to see a tall man with a noticeably big mustache, with a knit vest, smiling at me. “You must be Mahla!” I was relieved; “yes, hi.” He held out his hand to shake mine and turned around and said “Follow me”.
As I followed him to his office, I presumed, I first passed a room with a huge table, kind of like a conference room but not really, and maybe one or two people who were eating, I also passed small “rooms” I want to say but they were more similar to cubicles as they were open rooms with no doors, white boards in each, a table, and two to three students sitting at the table and speaking. I wonder if tutoring sessions were being conducted in these rooms. I followed Bert, as he insisted on anyone meeting him to call him that, to his office. It was a very small room, smaller than the first room I passed with the big table. The first thing I noticed in his room was the stack of papers and books behind the desk, on the desk and under the desk. There were some plants that looked half-dead, he went behind his desk to sit down and I sat on the chair in front of the desk. Bert took out a paper from one of the stack of papers and studied it carefully, at this point, I knew that this was my resume.
I won’t go into detail about what was said in my interview, but I do want to point out the very smart psychological “test” that Bert took. After speaking for a bit about why I want to be a tutor at LGCC and why I think students sometimes have difficulty writing, Bert gave me a “scenerio” question. I believe he uses this scenerio question in all of his interviews to this day so I won’t give the details of the scenerio but what he did want to test is the humility of a candidate. When does a tutor decide that he or she just doesn’t know the answer to a question, or how to help a student, and when or whether he or she will ask someone about it?! Will the tutor decide that I’m not qualified to make a call about whether this student should fail or not and will he or she eventually ask for help? In my answer, after making different “attempts” to help the student, I suggested that I would ask Bert himself or other supervisors (Linda, I later found out was the name of the woman wearing the worried expression at the front desk).
I could immediately tell that this answer clearly pleased Bert. He mentioned that yes, when you just try different methods and it doesn’t work out, you have to ask for help. You don’t even have to ask him or other supervisors, sometimes just asking another peer tutor might do the job. I started working at the LaGuardia Writing Center shortly after my interview, the following week I believe. This was exactly 8 years ago, April 2008. As I became more acquainted with the Writing Center, I fell more and more in love with Writing Center Tutoring and more so with the culture at the LaGuardia Writing Center. Bert Eisenstadt, to this day, is the Writing Center Director there. He is one of the best in the business. It is not just his interviewing skills either. Other than being an exceptional professor in his regular courses, he is also a brilliant leader. At my time at LGCC Writing Center, Bert held bi-weekly paid training sessions for all the tutors, especially newer ones in not only Grammar, Writing techniques, the assignments that are given to students, but also he taught tutors how to tutor.
Now, during my time at LGCC WC, I learned more and more that tutoring is not just a skill, but it’s an art. And just like any other form of art, practice makes perfect, but training is also a great tool. Bert held many workshops at the WC throughout the year. At times, he would close up the WC completely for an hour or two to hold these training sessions. The tutors got paid for attending these workshops and learned how to do their jobs well in the process. Not only was this helpful training for the tutors, but it also gave a chance for tutors to come together to interact with each other in a friendly learning environment. Bert even provided lunch, at times, in these training sessions, which truly fostered a team-building environment.
Until I was living in New York, I worked at the WC on and off for 6 years. Let me just say this: that is the longest I have worked in one place, ever. My life pulled me to different locations throughout my life and I sometimes either got too busy or was not physically around to tutor at LGCC WC. However, something always pulled me back there and every time I went back, I was accepted and embraced with open arms. I always felt welcomed. In fact, Bert was not only an amazing boss to me but to me, he was also an adviser, mentor, and advocate. He helped me get an adjunct position as an Instructor at LGCC by recommending me to the chair at the English Department. To this day, Bert is the first person I turn to when I need professional guidance. He is truly an inspiration and I continue to aspire to be more like him. In fact, my passion is to pursue a PhD in Composition and Rhetoric and become a Writing Center Director and perhaps continue his legacy on the West Coast.
Thank you for everything Bert. I hope you get to read this. :)
Many Blessings,
Meela (Ginger)
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