Doing what we can do

                I was really interested in class discussion this week because, like you, I’m still trying to figure out how community engagement plays out in a course. On the one hand, I’m thrilled at any opportunity we have to get involved with a community outside of the walls of Holmes hall! On the other hand, I’m cautious of thinking that I will change huge issues tutoring for a couple hours. But here’s where the optimist in me is going to come out. I think that we need to be cognizant of Herzberg and Deans’ critiques and hesitations about involvement in the community, but we also need to start somewhere! Start small and build up, right?

                I understand the critiques that we can’t do much in a couple tutoring sessions. And I get why Deans especially cautions against being involved in the community and then almost immediately leaving it. BUT, we are working with 826 Boston and MHS throughout their project. The goal of our interaction is to help them complete their book. So, if we stay throughout that process, I don’t think that the quantity of time spent with them should be looked at negatively. In theory (if things go as planned), we will have helped them with the goal we all set out with. This seems to me to parallel Chris’s ideas (drawing on de Certeau) of tactical projects. Sometimes you do what you can do, in the time given and with the resources available. Then, you build on it!

                Another thing that I was contemplating throughout our discussion also had to do with the question of how much time is enough to have a meaningful relationship with someone. For instance, in the different writing centers I’ve worked in, I’ve had very productive sessions in just 30 minutes! And other times an hour allows us to accomplish the goal of revising an essay or brainstorming an assignment. I know I’m not changing the world when I tutor, but I do think that that hour or half hour can make a difference—even if it’s just helping someone understand an assignment better. Understandably, there seems to be a disconnect between helping someone with an essay and drawing attention to larger systemic issues that we’ve talked about, but I wouldn’t say that’s always the case. For instance, I have students come in with essays about race, homelessness, sexism, poverty, etc. and we talk through ideas. And we work on writing an essay or doing a project that, in turn, will also talk about these ideas. So, I guess I do think that if I can help guide someone through their ideas, while also learning about them myself, a difference can be made. Maybe it was by me, maybe it was by them; but most importantly, maybe it was through (or encouraged by) our interaction.