Professional Growth

Today I spent a day off-campus at a meeting called a DDO, which stands for Directors' Day Out. With the new job, I'm now a member of the PNWCA (Pacific Northwest Writing Centers Association), and since I am the whole writing center at CWU-Des Moines, I get to go to the activities this organization puts on for writing center directors. This quarter the meeting was held at Seattle University, which was really convenient for me as it shortened my usual commute by about 20 minutes to only have to go as far as Downtown. It was the first time I've been on that campus, and I was really impressed. Unlike a lot of inner city campuses where it's impossible to forget the city that looms just off campus, SU is very sheltered and enclosed, and doesn't feel quite as urban as a school like Portland State.

Today's meeting provided an opportunity for the three people who run the CWU writing centers to be together in the same room at the same time, which I'm finding is a rare pleasure. Teresa (the director in Ellensburg) and Sandy (my counterpart on the Lynwood campus) and I enjoy each other's company, and this afternoon was a treat because in addition to the meeting, we managed to steal a little bit of time to chat. I'm meeting Sandy again tomorrow so that we can discuss a conference proposal we're putting together. The two of them provide a peer base that I haven't had for a couple years, and it's lovely to be included in a group whose members "speak my language." At North, I was separate from the writing center staff because I was a faculty member, and separate from the other faculty members because I was the only writing teacher in my department. It's nice to really be included and to feel like I have a place.

I also enjoyed meeting the other writing center directors from the area and beginning to learn about the programs on other campuses. They're a friendly bunch, and I'm really looking forward to this spring's PNWCA conference.

It also made me feel really grown up to be touring a college campus as a faculty member and not as a potential student. Today was one of those days when I suspect that even though I feel like a kid, the rest of the world thinks I'm an adult.