Leanin’ In Close

I had an ESL student come in the other day that was different than all the other ESL students I have helped. She apparently was very comfortable either in the setting, or with me. I feel I am fairly conscious of other people’s space, and try not to invade their space or put them in a position where they have to invade mine. With this in mind, I usually anticipate a passive session where I ask questions and it is low-key. This client caught me by surprise. She was very talkative and dominated the conversation. She was ESL, and did ask for help on grammatical errors in her paper. It was a short paper, and I thought it would be a short session. Perhaps it was the mood set up by all my other sessions in the Writing Center that caused me to think of this one as significantly different. When I reflect on my other sessions, I recollect that the mood was generally one of comfort with a focus on a paper or topic that did not really interest the student. This particular session shattered all conceptions I had of how a session should go. The client placed her elbows on the table and leaned in for a good portion of the session, almost putting her body over her paper. She very eager to talk-not just about her paper, but her whole class. Without me asking she went on about the class she was writing for, and the topics she liked and didn’t like. What threw me off the most was her tone. While other students spoke in a neutral tone, my client appeared enthusiastic about talking. If tone reflects one’s interest in being somewhere, then she is the only person I have encontered that truly wanted to be in the Writing Center. Her paper was a summary of a class session, and it did not flow well at all. It skipped from topic to topic which made it hard to determine a focus. I mentioned this to her and we worked on it for a while. When I pointed out areas she needed more explanation or where she needed transition she made comments on her paper and then asked for more help. I felt she was rushing me, which may have forced me to overlook more HOCs. Whether or not I felt rushed, we got to a point where I felt comfortable with the progress on HOCs and with time left felt I could help her with her questions on grammar. When our session ended, she expressed that she enjoyed working with me because I helped her with her grammar, which other tutors had avoided. I told her that I did not want to focus on grammar, and that was why it came last. I felt bad hearing this from a client. And then I felt bad for felling bad. Should I feel bad that I did help with grammar, even though that is not the prupose of the Writing Center?