When I submitted my proposal for my self-designed co-op over the winter quarter, the project I had in mind looked very different than what it has evolved into. Initially, I was hoping to spend the entirety of my time immersed in a creative project. My original idea was to write a new piece of flash fiction every day of the week from the start of the term to the end, resulting in 75 works that I would self-publish. While I am still undertaking this project, it is now only adjacent to my co-op.
Upon receiving my co-op fellowship letter, I discovered that there was no mention of my creative project, the focus of my proposal. Instead, my passing mention of potentially offering tutoring help in the Writing Institute was latched onto with the determination of a tick. My ESL qualifications in conjuncture with my willingness to offer tutelage morphed my desired co-op into the position of the ESL Services Coordinator at Antioch College.
While I am not frustrated with my co-op experience so far, it would be disingenuous to express a lack of frustration overall.
Currently, I spend most of my week in the writing institute, with open office hours available for any student who needs writing tutoring. A good deal of my time is spent detailing how Antioch can assist students who are English language learners. My first project was writing a recommendation for admission policy in regards to English language proficiency in applicants who are learning English. I also recently began to develop a low resource support plan that the college can implement in its current mainstream classrooms with minimal difficulty.
Outside of writing policy recommendations, I have gathered resources so that the Writing Institute can better assist English language learners. As of right now, the existing resources are all materials offered free online; however, there are select resources that ought to be purchased that I have identified. Unfortunately, I was not given a budget allotment and I am unable to purchase them.
For more updates on my work, please visit my website here.
