Midterms are around the corner and some students may be struggling with reading, writing and comprehension.  The Fresno City College Reading and Writing Center has tutors available to help students with such problems.

The tutors can help you with any reading or writing assignment, for any class, at any part of the writing process. They can also help improve your skills in brainstorming, reading comprehension, understanding your given assignment, time management, developing ideas, learning strategies, writing thesis statements, study skills, organizing a paper, proofreading skills, essay exams and other skills related to reading and writing.

Cheri Yang,  an accounting major, says she came to the Reading and Writing Center for help with an outline for her speech class.

“They were very helpful,” says Yang. “They corrected my words and outline, punctuation and grammar.”

There are five tutors per hour available for counseling, according to Tabitha Villabla, the Reading and Writing Center Coordinator.  Two tutors are specifically available for students that make appointments whereas two to three tutors are assigned for walk-ins.  Sessions by appointment are 25 minutes long and walk-in sessions are 20 minutes.

Students usually receive one-on-one tutoring per session.  The Reading and Writing Center has 30 seats available for tutoring.   Each tutor goes through specific training before they begin tutoring students says Villabla.

“We do a lot of question asking,” says Villabla, “And listening so we can adjust the tutoring center to their (the students’) needs.”

The tutors also consider what the instructors are looking for to help the student understand and organize their thoughts, according to Villabla.

Michael Ybarra, Reading and Writing Center tutor says his strongest skill is simplifying terms and making it relatable for students to fully understand the instructors assignments.

“You don’t have to be a genius to write an essay,” says Ybarra.  “Students here have a lot of great ideas, but they think they aren’t a good writer.”

“The problems students have are organizing their essays or starting out their thesis statement,” says Avni Khaira, Reading and Writing Center tutor.

Villabla stresses the importance to make an appointment because that means there is no wait time for the student, they have five minutes longer per session with the tutor, they are planning their study time and they have the freedom of rescheduling their appointment if needed.  Walk-in students may have to wait to be seen by a tutor or may be asked to return at a later time if the center is full.

Marlow Wilson an office profession major, has been attending the Reading and Writing center for two years. She says she utilizes the tutors multiple times per week.  She initially needed help with her grammar, proofreading, developing additional paragraphs, writer’s block and not knowing how to expand her ideas.

“I came for help with my English class two years ago,” says Wilson. “I like the people here and my grades have improved.”

Villabla says that on average students who use the Reading and Writing have a higher gpa by two points.

“I came here because a teacher said I could get extra credit,” says Chris Moore, Sports Medicine major.  Since then he has been receiving help with “formatting paragraphs and sentences”.

The tutors at the Reading and Writing Center are trained to identify, approach and help with english-as-a-second-language students errors.  According to Nicolas Quintana, ESL Coordinator at the Reading and Writing Center, ESL students differ in their problem areas.

Quintana says, “An ESL student may have subject/verb agreement errors, missed articles, spelling, organization, punctuation and additional errors than a regular student.”

“My strongest skill is that I’m friendly,” says Khaira. When tutoring she asks questions, gives suggestions and makes students feel comfortable.

“We see about 100 students per day,” says Villabla, “and 1,400 students per semester.”

The Reading and Writing Center is open Monday through Wednesday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday 9 a.m. to noon. The center is located upstairs from the Tutorial Center.  To make an appointment please call 559-499-6042.

If you are unable to visit the center during those times, they do offer help online. Visit http://fccwise.fresnocitycollege.edu/owc/. You can also access this link through the FCC website.