Student Testimonials
Since its founding in 1985, the Center for Writing & Rhetoric has been dedicated to helping students improve their writing. Check out our student testimonials below for a preview of the high-quality service we provide.
“The Writing Center was a crucial part of my PhD study, which relied on writing so much. Writing is the way that scholars used to convey knowledge to the world. I used the Writing Center since my first semester at CGU. Writing played a vital role in most of my classes, the qualifying examination, and my dissertation, and it helped me to organize my thoughts. Honestly, it could be painful for me to finish my PhD without the help of the CGU Writing Center. I used the writing center to layout my work, verify my claims, and polish my work. Sometimes, I used different staff based on their expertise because my writing consists of varying evidence, data, and reasons that relied on knowledge of consultants. Hence, the diversity of staff was the key in my case. I used both face to face and online submission services.
Besides academic needs, another important aspect was the friendship that I developed with consultants. I still remember all the staff whom I met since 2014. I liked this aspect a lot. Another good impression was the dissertation boot camp. The dissertation boot camp helped me to stay focus on writing work. It was hard for me to keep focusing for a long period. Therefore, the boot camp kept me in a room, and I then made good progress with several useful pieces of advice from writing center staff and good food as well. Also, I had new friends at the boot camp, as well as enjoyed conversations with them. What I want to say is that the Writing Center gave me not only services but also friendship.”
– Watanyoo Suksa-Ngiam ’20
“Sometimes I ask myself what the most important things I have gained from CGU are. One of the essential parts is my confidence about my academic writing because of what I have learned from the writing center. I go to the writing center almost every week, sometimes I also use email appointments. With their help, I have improved my English as well as my academic writing. Every consultant has her/his advantages based on her/his different knowledge and background. Some are pretty excellent at language; others are best at the organization of papers; still others are good at quantitative studies. Consultants can meet our various needs because of their different strengths. I have finished all my writing projects with help from the writing center, such as my course papers, conference presentations, research statements, as well as my dissertation.
Whenever I write academic projects in the future, I will remember and use the skills and knowledge that I have learned from the writing center. My appreciation to the writing center is beyond words. I highly recommend you just go to the writing center, you will find out how wonderful they are.”
-Jingjing An
“I strongly believe that the Center for Writing and Rhetoric must be one of the most beneficial institutions at CGU for students, because this Center contributes to students’ academic development and professionalization. I visited the Center for Writing and Rhetoric almost every week during my CGU doctoral study. I reviewed and discussed my potential chapters of dissertation with Writing Center tutors, and hence effectively completed my dissertation during four years of doctoral study. It is not easy to complete a long dissertation within only a few years, particularly for international students, who generally have linguistic limitations in grammar and expressions. After a visit in the Center once a week, I thought how to improve my writing in the remaining days of the week, and then I visited in the next week. I followed this routine every semester. Surprisingly, when I finished my coursework, I found that I developed almost all chapters and consolidated propositions of my dissertation with the help of lively discussion with tutors.
Indeed, I heartily appreciate all members of the Center for Writing and Rhetoric for my advancement in academic writing during my CGU doctoral study. Many of my achievements, academic activities, and publications have been made or developed in productive communications in the Center. For example, with my proposal based on my dissertation, I received a fellowship of APSA Asia Program from the American Political Science Association (APSA) in 2019. I have told my peers that a few Writing Center tutors must be my second Dissertation Committee members. It is not exaggeration considering great benefits that I received from the Center. I still continue to receive consultations from the Center. Although I work as a specialist who received a PhD degree in political science, I must be a student and learner whenever I visit the Center. Recently, the Center suggested me to write a testimonial. However, I should say that what I learned from the Center is far beyond words and any written testimonial!”
– Seokdong Kim, Ph.D. ’19