The Writing Center at LBCC

The Writing Center at LBCC in Albany offers academic support on writing papers for any class. It can be a paper for WR 121, a research paper for science class, or a resume for applying job.

“My assistants are all very professional at what they do, and they love to help students with their papers,” said Victoria Fridley.

Fridley, the Writing Center Coordinator at LBCC, has been leading the program to grow for five years. She is also teaching WR 115 this term.

To help other students and coordinate the Writing Center, Fridley comes with a strong English and writing background. After Fridley gained her B.A. in English from California State University, Fresno, she was pursuing her M.F.A in the theatre’s playwriting program at the University of California in Davis.

Community social events are also party of Fridley’s interests. She has worked for non-profit arts organizations, directed the Da Vinci Days and the Corvallis Arts Center.

As much of a good writer Fridley is herself, it is also her passion to help others to be good and better at writing. “You know,” Fridley said “it’s just very rewarding to see students improve, and I’m privileged to experience this everyday.”

The Writing Center has a well-structured process to help students with papers. There are drop in hours, 30-minutes appointments, and OnlineWriting Lab (OWL). The OWL is an online program where students can simply submit their papers on a home computer and receive feedbacks from writing tutors in less than 24 hours during weekdays.

Students do not have to be enrolled in writing classes to use the Writing Center resources. The assistants offer tutoring for any type of paper or maybe a few comments on the style and structure.

“Any writer needs an editor, not only for mistakes, but also to gain different perspectives,” said Fridley.

To be an assistant at the Writing Center is not as easy as it seems. The job not only require you as a good writer, but also a good listener and counselor.

Some students are not so confident about their writing, and some students are afraid to share their words with other. This is a communication skill required of the tutors at the Writing Center to make sure to encourage students and not to laugh at their writing pieces.

“Many students are nervous and vulnerable when sharing their writing. Even if they don’t say, you can still tell from their gestures,” said Fridley “so we have our assistants read the work to students instead of the vise-versa. This way, students also find some grammar mistakes just by listening to others reading it.”

Fridley loves her job, and she wishes she can do more for students, “we don’t have a big capacity of staff, and I hate to see students come and not be able be helped.”

When the quarter is close to dead week especially, the Writing Center helps more students than usual. Many times, the tutors don’t have time to take breaks between helping students.

“It’s a dream of mine to make the Writing Center more accessible and covers more areas,” said Fridley ”for the COMM 111 class, I’d love to have a specific session or a practice room available for student; so that they wouldn’t be too nervous when they present in front the class. ”

The Writing Center is only school-funded. In the future, Fridley hopes that the Writing Center can grow to be more mature and reach out to the community.

Additional Info:

Writing Center

Lebanon Learning Center (LC-202)

Mon-Fri, 9am-noon, 12:30pm-3:30pm