As the coordinator of the MacEwan University Writing Centre, I spend a lot of time thinking about how to promote our services to students. Word of mouth is the most convincing kind of promotion, but it’s also the hardest to control. Luckily, some of our most valuable ambassadors are in-house: tutors, many of whom use the centre themselves.
But they didn’t always. In talking with tutors over the years, a recurring theme has emerged. Many had misconceptions about the Writing Centre before they started working here. Despite caring deeply about writing, they assumed the centre wasn’t for them.
Recently, I sat down with several members of the team to talk about what they had wrong about the Writing Centre before they became tutors, and what they’ve gained from becoming repeat clients.
Here’s what I learned.
Misconception: The tutors all have degrees.
Correction: While some tutors have prior postsecondary credentials, most are in their first program! What tutors all have in common is that they’re current MacEwan students. Indeed, to be a tutor, you must be a MacEwan student—it's one of several casual paid positions on campus available exclusively to students.
Brianna, former tutor: “I kind of pictured it as an intimidating consultation where I’d be meeting with a strict tutor who was so much more experienced than me. I didn’t know it was student-led.”
Misconception: The tutors are all English majors.
Correction: Several tutors are indeed studying English, but not all of them. Writing genres and conventions can vary widely from discipline to discipline, and having tutors studying a range of subjects helps us learn from each other. For the 2026–2027 academic year, there are tutors studying business, biology, sociology, and psychiatric nursing.
Teanna, current tutor: “I wrote an English-style paper for a bio class rather than an essay appropriate for biology, and it would’ve been helpful to have a tutor let me know the expectations are different.”
Misconception: The Writing Centre is only for students who don’t like writing.
Correction: If you’re not a fan of writing, you should absolutely come to see us! We hope our enthusiasm is contagious. If you love writing, you should come to see us, too. No matter what your relationship to writing, you can benefit from talking through your ideas and hearing how a fellow student experiences your work.
Christian, current tutor: “One [misconception] that I’m trying to break is that the Writing Centre is only suited for people who are just getting started or who aren’t very confident. I’m trying to break that misconception among fellow English students. There's value in going to the Writing Centre at all levels.”
Misconception: The Writing Centre only helps with citations and grammar.
Correction: While tutors can certainly help you understand sentence structure, build proofreading skills, and double-check citations, they can support you with so much more. Tutors can help you understand assignment guidelines, organize your ideas, refine your thesis statement, integrate sources, polish your formatting, and more!
Brianna, former tutor: “I also thought that it was only for citation and grammar help. We help with that, but we also work on how the writing flows, how it sounds, if it’s meeting requirements. Where people get a lot of value is in the writing process.”
Count these three current tutors among such people—here’s how they incorporate visits with fellow tutors into their process:
Carter: “Any time I’m unsure of what my thoughts are, I make appointments to talk through my ideas, show early drafts to cure the anxieties of my paper being off track. I like a second pair of eyes. [The Writing Centre] is easy to use, so I might as well."
Teanna: “[Making appointments] gives me deadlines to do things further in advance, to catch spelling mistakes and to ensure my argument is flowing clearly. I’ve been told by my professors a lot that I’m making connections, but they’re having to make assumptions to get to the same connections. If someone says, “How did we get from here to here,” that forces me to be like, “Yeah, how did we...?” I like hearing my work read aloud. I can change things as we go through.”
Christian: “One of my writing values is having a level of humility. Once you think you’ve figured it out, you haven’t. Booking with my fellow tutors, they’re strong writers in their own right, I can bounce ideas off of them. There are so many different writing styles and disciplines. Everyone here has their own strengths. I can gain something from everyone here.”
If you weren’t already, I hope you’re now convinced that the Writing Centre is for you.
Next time you’re bursting with ideas for a paper or wondering how to polish your conclusion, consider scheduling an appointment, submitting your writing, or dropping by to chat with Carter, Teanna, Christian or any of the other talented tutors who work here. See you at the centre soon!
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