Tune up writing skills before graduating or transferring.
By Tim Hernandez
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
Writing an essay for a scholarship application doesn’t have to be faced alone.
The ACCD Foundation Scholarship application process requires that the applying student answer each of three questions in a 250-word essay.
The three questions and essay writing tips can be found at www.alamo.edu/main.aspx?id=2468.
The questions focus on the student’s background, education goals and how a scholarship will help.
While the web page provides some helpful tips to guide a good writer, it provides no assistance to an applicant who struggles with writing.
That assistance can be found on campus at the writing center in Room 203 of Gonzales Hall.
Writing center Director Jane Focht-Hansen said a student will receive help with any writing assignment as long as they provide a document that explains the assignment.
She said the center’s tutors will not write a student’s paper but help them develop brainstorming, instruction interpretation, idea generation, grammar and proofreading skills.
In addition to managing the writing center, Focht-Hansen also teaches English and literature.
This semester, she is teaching ENGL 2342, Introduction to Literature and Literary Criticism.
She has taught at this college for 21 years.
She earned an Associate of Arts in radio, television and film from this college, a Bachelor of Arts in English from Trinity University, and a Master of Arts in English literature and language from St. Mary’s University.
Students who plan on transferring to a four-year university that requires writing across the curriculum are encouraged to make use of the center to improve their writing skills.
Focht-Hansen said, “We have some brilliant students here, but they were not served well by their public education.”
Focht-Hansen’s recommendation to students who struggle with writing is take “a class that will challenge you and require that you write extensively.”
Spring hours for the center are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday and Thursday, 8 a.m.–7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and 9 a.m.–2 p.m. Friday.
A student needing assistance must make an appointment for tutoring by visiting the center or by calling 210-486-1433.