To help students rise to the challenges of exams, papers and internships, Texas A&M offers various resources for students to take advantage of during the semester.
As Aggies progress through their classes, they are bound to encounter more demanding work from their classes or careers. Texas A&M has resources available that will give students the opportunity to practice their skills in preparation of difficult tasks. Students have the option of using the Writing Center, the Academic Success Center and the Career Center to prepare for papers, exams, internships, interviews and more.
Located on the second floor of the Evans Library, the Writing Center focuses on improving the communication skills of Aggies. Nancy Vazquez, director at the Writing Center, said the center offers students help with their writing and speaking abilities.
“We help with any kind of communication,” Vazquez said. “We can help students with both writing and speaking and it doesn’t need to be for a particular class or assignment. So while we certainly see people bringing in research papers, lab reports, essays, we also help students with things like cover letters, application essays, practice delivering speech and conversation appointments for English language learners.”
Before coming to A&M, students often aren’t academically challenged enough to develop their writing skills, meaning some have difficulties meeting collegiate standards, Vazquez said.
“Writing is a skill, and like any skill, it’s best developed over time through repetition and practice,” Vazquez said. “Sometimes students don’t get enough opportunities to write. So then when they do write, it’s often a high stakes thing, so they kind of don’t have that facility with writing that maybe would help them to be able to accomplish something like that.”
Students can find the Academic Success Center’s office on the ninth floor of Rudder Tower. Student assistant Elizabeth Olivarez said the center offers programs for students to improve their study skills and provides tutors for specific subjects.
“We offer two services,” Olivarez said. “One is our coaching, [where] academic coaches help the students find new study skills [such as] time management and schedule building, based off of what the student may need. The other service that we offer is our study hub, where students are able to get tutoring for free, five days a week. That just really helps the students with any courses that they’re struggling with.”
Olivarez said students should consider visiting the center regardless of their current academic standing in order to stay on top of their work and avoid stressful situations.
“I would recommend students come to the Academic Success Center even if they aren’t struggling academically,” Olivarez said. “Because it can help them move on to the next level of their education and can become a tool for them. — [whether it’s] to get a 4.0 or just make school easier for them.”
The Career Center can be found in Room 209 of the Koldus building next to Kyle Field. The Career Center’s website highlights career events where students can go and talk to potential employers. The center often has career fairs tailored towards specific colleges, and they even have multiple experts to work with student considering professional school programs like law and medicine.