Dear Cady and Tyler,

My name is Tamara Racelis. I am originally from Portugal and I speak fluent Portuguese. I have a
horse named Eponie and 2 dogs, Minnie and Zooey. This semester is my third semester in college and
my first semester at Nevada State College. I am 24 years old which would make me what you would
consider a "non-traditional student". I grew up in New York City, which is where I graduated from high
school. I enjoy hiking, snowboarding, and learning about science. My major is Biology and upon my
graduation I plan to join the navy. I hope to become a professor of Bio-Chemistry or a chemical
laboratory technician in the United Sates Navy.
I have actually met you Cady once in Professor Robinson's class and Tyler I have met you twice;
once in class and once in the writing center. I was in the writing center being tutored by Paige. We were
discussing, the writing process. I have always struggled in my English classes and with my own writing
process. I find academic writing to be very intimidating. I think that might be because I find it difficult to
separate myself from what I am writing. For example: when I am writing a reading response, I use the
word "I" a lot. I also have a hard time writing about something that does not interest me.
When I know that I have an assignment due, I pay close attention to what the directions are and
I make a plan to do them. The plan usually involves brainstorming, collecting sources, and prewriting. I
also have a strange writing ritual. What I do when I am writing is write a paragraph and then walk
around my house. I return to write another paragraph and then go downstairs to get a drink. I like my
workspace to be quiet with a lot of lighting and I prefer to write during the day with natural light
through the window. I would really like to say that I dont procrastinate, but I unfortunately do.
However, I am working on not being intimidated by writing and I am hoping with that I will procrastinate
less.
Some other aspects of writing that I have been working on are: grammar, word choice, and
meeting length requirements. One thing that Professor Robinson has told my class is that content is

more important to him than all of those issues. Nonetheless, I would like to improve my overall writing
and I would appreciate your help in doing so.
Tyler, when you spoke to our class you said, "It's not that I am just naturally good at writing, I
have a passion for it and I work hard." That is very inspiring to me because I have always felt that I just
was not good at writing and that it was just too hard. In class we did an exercise where we read different
sample essays that were written by some of Professor Robinson's past students. It was comforting to
see that other students share my own writing hurdles. By "hurdles" I mean writing a clear thesis
statement and topic sentence, developing a strong argument, making their papers unique, and
incorporating what they have learned into their own work. Aside from those larger issues there are the
smaller issues such as: grammar and punctuation. One of the students wrote a paper titled, "Green
Energy", which was about why green energy is not the answer to our energy needs because it will hurt
the economy and take money away from other programs. The writer had a strong argument, a clear
thesis, and strong support. One thing that I noticed is that it could have been organized a little
differently, which might have given the paper a better flow. Another students paper was titled, "The
Positive Effect of Facebook and Myspace on Teens. This paper was very different from the "Green
Energy" paper. It was different because there was no thesis given which was confusing and there were a
lot of unnecessary punctuation. Another thing that was unclear about the second paper was who the
intended audience was.
In addition to being relieved that I am not the only student who struggles with academic writing,
I am also concerned as to why students are having difficulties with the writing process. Trying to find
some answers, I asked Rommel Canare and Nancy Homan of the academic advising center here at
Nevada State College. Rommel has been advising NSC students since 2013 and he also teaches Ethnic
Studies here at NSC.I only had a few minutes with him, but I did have the opportunity to ask him what
problems he notices when reading his students papers. His reply was, "I feel that my students struggle

with the way that they approach the writing process, they view a paper as something they just need to
get over with instead of an outlet for them to be heard." I also asked him, how he approaches the
writing process and how might he pass that on to his students. He replied, "When I am writing a paper I
try to connect to the topic and material turn it into my own analysis. I hope to pass that on but everyone
has their own process." When his next appointment came in I walked down the hall to talk to Nancy
Homan. Nancy has also been and academic advisor at NSC since 2013, her bachelors degree is in English,
and she also was an English instructor in Oregon. She feels that some of the problems that students
have are because they had no college prep before attending college, she feels that college prep classes
should be more of a priority for NSHE. Student writing was not as big of a problem in Oregon. I then
asked her, "How do you think the writing center will help our students? Her reply was, " I think that they
do a very good job at helping students grow within their own writing levels and help them achieve their
next writing goals. Whether it is pointing out small errors, choosing the right audience, or just making a
plan, they are there to help."
This semester, I registered late because I was trying to decide between NSC and CSN. I am
confident that I made the right choice by choosing NSC. I think what I will learn from the Writing Center
and Dr. Robinson will help me succeed as a student. When I first met with Professor Robinson he
mentioned that there is a statistic that students who register late, dont do as well as students who have
registered on time. That is something that I am choosing not to accept and I will do what it takes to learn
all that I can and graduate. I am hoping to learn how to find my own voice through my writing. I feel that
most students have trouble with writing because they are trying to sound like someone else. They make
a huge effort to try to sound intelligent because they think that they will not be taken seriously if they
write in their own voice. They also feel that their essays and research papers dont really matter because
they are not confident with their own writing. I am working on becoming a better writer and I am
looking forward to working with the writing center to help me achieve this goal.