The College of Arts and Behavioral Sciences, Imari Tetu

Spotlight on… The College of Arts and Behavioral Sciences Imari Tetu Professional and Technical Writing Major

When she came to SVSU in Fall 2017, Imari Tetu had no idea her experiences here would change her vision for the future. A professional and technical writing (PTW) major and a communication minor from West Branch, Michigan, Tetu graduated in 2017 from Kirtland Community College with her associate of art degree. Initially, she was a communication major and a PTW minor, but after spending some time in her Intro to PTW (RPW 260) class with Dr. Bradley Herzog, Tetu realized that PTW was her passion. At first, she aspired to be an editor, but her time in the Department of Rhetoric and Professional Writing (RPW) and the Diane Boehm Writing Center would shape her interests and change her path. Tetu has been a valuable presence to the campus writing community. After her first semester at SVSU, Tetu and a few other students spearheaded the relaunch of the school’s Association of Professional and Technical Writers (APTW). Tetu is particularly proud of that work given that she was elected president after completing her second semester in the program and after having only taken two PTW classes. In her role in the APTW, Tetu was instrumental in organizing the APTW’s annual mini-conferences, which saw about 15 presenters and 70–80 attendees each year. Tetu’s growth as a writer—and contributions to the campus’s community of writers—is also tied to her work as a tutor at SVSU’s Writing Center. As a writer herself, Tetu was intrigued by the Writing Center, though her expectations of what her job would be differed significantly from the reality of it. When she started there in January 2018, she believed she would mostly be editing papers, but quickly learned her job was to guide students through the writing process and provide them with feedback. Of her time in the Writing Center, Tetu observed that “I was learning to be a support for students, sometimes talking through ideas for their drafts, other times asking questions about organization and clarity. I learned to separate higher-order concerns from lower-order concerns and prioritize the former. I also developed my interpersonal skills, not anticipating how challenging it would be to sit down with a complete stranger and talk about their writing, much of which was very personal.” In addition to tutoring, Tetu has performed other roles and tasks at the Writing Center. She served as its technical writer, helping to revise the Center’s website, and led orientation sessions to familiarize incoming freshmen with the Writing Center. Writing and working at the Writing Center also became a way to connect with the larger community. Tetu spent several semesters tutoring and leading workshops in the Saginaw and Bay community writing centers, and she also attended and presented her original research at several conferences, including the Michigan Writing Centers Association Conference in 2018 (with Writing Center Director Helen Raica-Klotz) and the 2019 International Writing Centers Association/National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing joint conference (with fellow tutors Hannah Mose and Elizabeth Kennedy). Tetu received the SVSU Undergraduate Student Travel Grant to help fund this work, which involved studying why students do not take advantage of the Writing Center; she was the 2020 recipient of a Mayme Hamilton Award for Tutoring Excellence; and she also received the Boehm Writing Center Tutor Service Award with Hannah Mose. The

latter award led to a postcard poetry contest, in which local residents wrote poems about Saginaw’s history, places, and people. In Fall 2020, Tetu will be attending Michigan State University to begin a master’s in digital rhetoric and professional writing. She is grateful for everyone who has been a part of her experience at SVSU, with special thanks going to the RPW faculty. Although she came to SVSU with aspirations to be an editor, during her time here she learned of the power of writing, and its impact on human interactions. As a result, she now plans on becoming a professor of technical communication to share her passion for writing with others.