Tuesday, September 11, 2012

New Spaces, Open Minds in the Downtown Phoenix Writing Center



Moving is hard. Moving is never easy. Moving leaves a sense of missing something, desiring that old comfortable spot where you know you could go even if you had no reason to be there.

That's how it felt the first time I stepped into the new Downtown Writing Center in the Post Office on the corner of Fillmore & Central. I missed our tiny, slim hole-in-the-wall in the University Center building. I could always just drop in, even when I wasn't working, because I knew the people and the space were cozy, friendly, and inviting.

When I stepped into the stark room down in a basement, at I first was startled. It was so huge that it felt empty, despite being filled with tables, chairs, and splashes of yellow and orange furniture. How could someone feel comfortable down here, isolated from the rest of the university population? Was that why people weren't coming like they normally would? Did they not know where we were anymore?

Slowly but surely as students began to fill our appointment slots, I too began to feel more at ease working down here. The space allows more people to come, more people to collaborate, more people to just say hello and drop in to see us tutors working away to help our students be better writers. It has allowed me to be more open in my own processes; inspiration dawns on me when I sit at a table or in a cozy orange chair like it never has before.

Despite moving, I realize change is good now. It gives people new perspectives and new experiences, and now it gives me those things in my own writing. I hope that students come in to feel more inspired in our new space just like I have.   
--Downtown tutor Amanda

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