The Ball State Graduate School and the Ball State Writing Center came together to host an amazing workshop this year in mid-September. The Write On! Writing Retreat gave students an opportunity to connect, listen to multiple presentations regarding writing technique, and give students dedicated time to work on their projects or thesis! We had over seventy students attend this year and are looking forward to future events with the Writing Center.
As a review of this year’s event, here is a word from one of the event organizers at the Writing Center, Charolette Kupsh! Followed by an interview of one of our graduate students that attended the workshop. Thank you to everyone who attended and organized this year’s retreat!
- What was your favorite part of this years retreat?
As one of the organizers, my favorite part of this year’s retreat was seeing all the graduate student attendees who were so excited to have time to write in community with one another! So often, by the time we reach the upper levels of academia, writing is an activity that takes place in isolation, so I love having the opportunity to bring writers together and hear from students across disciplines.
- Was there anything you learned this year at the writers retreat as a faculty member?
Every time I talked to an attendee, I feel like I learned something, whether it was about their research, their writing process, or their lives. I especially enjoyed conversations with graduate students who were returning to higher education after some time away—they bring such a wealth of expertise and insight to their work!
- What did you feel or see was most valuable activity to the student body at this retreat?
As an organizer, of course, I think the entire thing was valuable! But if I had to pick one thing, I’d say that one thing I’ve heard over and over again from graduate students after the event is how valuable it was to have an entire day devoted to writing at the graduate level. Whether it was building community with other students, learning skills for time management, or just having some structured time to work on their writing, graduate students valued having space to devote to their work. Most of us pursue graduate education because we are deeply invested in our work—but then once we get into school, we can easily get swallowed in the whirlwind of classes, GA positions, teaching, and other administrative work. So, sometimes it feels rare to actually have the opportunity to focus solely on our work. My hope is that this event—and subsequent retreats!—help build a stronger culture of graduate writing on campus, and helps refresh and rejuvenate our students.
Student Interview
