At the start of the school year, Henry Ford College’s Writing Center, formerly located in the library, was relocated to the Learning Lab in building A. Through a collaboration between the Writing Center and the Learning Lab, the new space creates a single quiet place where the various academic needs of students can be met.

Writing is at the heart of education and plays a valuable role in every student’s journey to academic success. Relocating the writing center to the same location as the Learning Lab creates a more convenient and comfortable environment for students to receive assistance in their assignments or study endeavors. According to Dr. Chelsea Lonsdale, an English department faculty member and Henry Ford College alum, the Writing Center opened in 2018 with a Mellon grant that Henry Ford College received to support the Transfer Bridges program, which helps students transfer to a university.

Lonsdale explains, “Part of that program is making sure that there is good writing support for students so that when they go to transfer to a university and they take upper-class writing classes, they have already been prepared to do that. So we want students to develop those writing skills here and take it with them there. So that is what inspired us to open the writing center around eight years ago.”

Before this semester, the Writing Center had been located in the Eshleman Library in a small section of the first floor, which was supposed to be a temporary space. The Writing Center ended up staying there longer than intended. This semester, the Learning Lab, which already supports tutoring for students in multiple subjects, was able to create a permanent home for the Writing Center.

The English department chose to move the Writing Center to the Learning Lab primarily for the extra space. It had been, in Lonsdale’s words, “very challenging at times” for students to be able to focus in such a crowded place where people can often hear others’ conversations. The relocation of the Writing Center has proven to be a very convenient and helpful change at the college. When a student needs a tutor for a subject, such as chemistry, and would also like to receive help in their writing, they can now find assistance for both in one place.

Lonsdale mentioned that the Writing Center does not require appointments and hopes students will drop in when they need help. Students who may struggle with writing, no matter the course or assignment, can stop by if they need help getting started, want advice on a finished assignment, or need anything in between.

Fatme Mcheik, a student employee and nursing major at HFC, has been utilizing the Learning Lab for several semesters and was inspired to seek work there by the kindness and efficiency she experienced as a student who needed help.

One of the most significant reasons Mcheik chose to work at the Learning Lab was the “bone room,” where anatomy and physiology students can study models of human bones. She found it to be helpful in her numerous biology classes.. Mcheik said, “I like the environment and the people that work here are very nice. The resources here are helpful to all students, including me.”

Tracie Varitek, the interim Learning Lab coordinator as of January, explained that she’d envisioned the Learning Lab to be a place for students where they can easily access tutoring and other resources to help them. Often, when students need help, they are initially shy to ask for it, and when it isn’t easily available, they simply leave. Varitek wants the Learning Lab to be a place where students not only go for help on their work but also find a quiet place for study and relaxation.

Henry Ford Early College student Ziyad Abdulaziz shared how he benefited from the help at the Learning Lab. Abdulaziz explained that at the start of the semester, he began his calculus class with a new professor who taught the class in a way that was hard for him to understand. Abdulaziz said, “I found myself not being able to understand what the professor was teaching in class, so I scheduled a tutor session at the Learning Lab.” Abdulaziz met with an understanding tutor who guided him through the lessons using different methods.

When a friend or classmate experienced the same struggles as he had, Abdulaziz said, “I’d try and help them first, and if it wasn’t as effective as they wanted, I’d tell them to get help at the Learning Lab. The tutor introduced numerous new methods that helped me understand the topic more than when the teacher had explained it.”

Information on the Learning Lab, including how to arrange a meeting with a tutor, can be found at: hfcc.edu/learnlab.

Information on the Writing Center can be found at: hfcc.edu/student-services/writing-center