By George Mizelle/reporter

Trinity River students were told to prepare well for papers they write for classes during a Survival Week seminar Sept. 10.

“Your audience is your professor,” said instructional assistant Margaret Engel when talking about the purposes of writing a paper. “Be sure you follow your professor’s instructions.”

She presented Writing Survival Skills as part of the Weekend College Workshop Series. TR’s Survival Week introduced students to the tutoring resources available in the Discovery Center.

“Teachers want it easy to read,” Engel said before describing the proper ways to format a paper.

In regards to content, she said not to take chances by plagiarizing others.

“Don’t think you are going to get away with just copying something without giving credit,” she said.

Students can also take advantage of the writing center, Engel said.

Coordinator Stevie Blakely was pleased with the seminar response.

“We had more people than we expected,” she said. “There were easily 40 people here, and we only anticipated there being a handful since it was the weekend.”

Student Fred Coakley said the workshop was beneficial.

“For someone older coming back to school, I learned how high-tech everything has become,” he said.

TR will continue to offer workshops in the Discovery Center throughout the semester.