Brittanie Terensky, President of Chatham’s Creative Writing Club and the Education Major Club

Brittanie Terensky is arguably one of the busiest women on campus. She’s majoring in both English and Secondary Education, she’s President of both the Creative Writing Club and the Education Major Club, and she’s Co-Chair of Beyond the Page Book Club. A challenging set of commitments? Sure. But the aspiring teacher and event planner is chasing her dreams with tenacity. Read on to learn her tips to improve time management, overcome fear and give good constructive criticism.

 

 

Brittanie Terensky: A teacher at my high school received an MFA from Chatham and always spoke so highly of the college. I looked into Chatham and really liked some of the programs that they had to offer. Once I visited the campus and learned more, I immediately fell in the love. I really didn’t consider any other university after that. 

 

I’ve always wanted to be an English teacher. I honestly cannot remember a time when I thought I would do anything else as a profession. I love reading and writing and I would love the opportunity to teach those skills to kids. And I’ve just had so many English teachers that have changed the way I view certain topics or concepts, I really want to be that person for someone else. 

 

Honestly, time management is still something that I struggle with constantly. But I think what helps me most is to just stay organized. I have a planner that is always in whatever bag I’m carrying. I write down every single thing that I need to do and when it needs done by. I also write important reminders and my schedule for each day, that way I don’t forget anything. Another thing that I’ve been trying to do is taking purposeful breaks. I often get frustrated with a specific homework assignment and need a break. I used to take completely unproductive breaks, watch Netflix or something like that, and I wasn’t getting anything done. What I’ve been doing now is when I need a break, I move to another homework assignment or read for class and when I get bored with that, I go back to the original assignment. 

 

I went to a performing arts high school where I majored in creative writing. I’ve always loved to write and the creative writing program there was amazing. Once I came to Chatham and learned that there was a Creative Writing Club, I definitely wanted to be a part of it. I really believe in the CWC. We want to showcase the creative work at Chatham and provide a comfortable space for all writers – and I think that we are successfully doing that.  

 

The Creative Writing Club hosts monthly workshop meetings. Instead of holding traditional meetings, we ask that club members submit a poem or a piece of prose that they are working on and at the meeting, everybody workshops the piece. This is our first semester trying this type of meeting and so far, it has been really successful! These workshops are always really fun and beneficial for the writer. The workshops also prepare writers for upcoming submissions, like for Rea Coffeehouse Reading Series or The Minor Bird. 

Aside from meetings, we also host an undergraduate reading series. Formerly known as Spit Reel, Rea Coffeehouse Reading Series highlights the work of five different featured readers. The event has a new, permanent location – Rea Coffeehouse – and is held once a semester. RCRS is actually coming up in two weeks! It’s on November 20th at 7:00pm. It’s a great atmosphere with free food and an open mic session. 

 

I think every writer has a moment where they don’t want to share a piece with others. I think the most important thing to remember is that all writing is subjective. You cannot please everybody with your writing, nor should you try to. There have been plenty of times where I’ve written something and my best friend thinks it’s awful – and that’s okay. As long as I am proud of what I’ve created, that’s all that matters. I just have to remember at the end of the day that I am doing this for me and because I love to write. The most important thing that we try to do in the Creative Writing Club is create a really safe place for all writers. Every writer needs to improve in some way or another; we try to provide that comfortable space to improve with our workshops. 

 

Just as I said above, all writing is subjective. It’s important to remember that if somebody doesn’t like your piece, that it’s not any sort of judgment on what kind of writer you are. Getting constructive criticism sometimes sucks, but the person giving the criticism is trying to help you, not bring you down. And when giving constructive criticism, I think it’s really important to be as respectful, but as honest, as you can be. You have to think about how your criticism would make you feel if you were in the other person’s place. If your criticism would upset you, then it’s obviously going to hurt another person. Just try and rephrase your suggestions so they are more respectful and less hurtful, but always be honest. 

 

To write for myself. In high school, I would often adjust my writing to try and please other classmates or teachers, until one day a teacher pulled me aside and told me to stop doing that and only write for myself. I would restrict and censor myself because I didn’t think that others would like it and I think that’s the worst thing I could have done. Now, I write what I want and I don’t even think about how others are going to like it. If somebody doesn’t like what I write, I am more than fine with that. I like it and I’m proud of it and that’s all that matters to me. 

 

SPSEA, Student Pennsylvania State Education Association, was the original organization for Education majors on campus. That organization was first started in Fall 2012, my first year at Chatham. I joined the new club, but found that there were a lot of issues within the organization. For example, the advisor was a little restricting in what we could do and in order to be in the club, you had to pay membership fees to the PSEA. While I think it’s a great opportunity for Education students to be apart of PSEA, because it definitely helps you in the long run, I didn’t like that people who didn’t have the money to join couldn’t be a part of the organization. At the end of my first year, I was appointed President of SPSPEA. We got a new advisor and we both decided to completely change the dynamic of the club. So really the Education Major Club is only in its second year at Chatham. 

 

The Education Major Club is a great resource for Education majors. Because the organization is also open to graduate students, it is really difficult to accommodate for everybody’s schedules for meetings. What we have started doing this semester is holding online meetings through Skype. Through this meeting format, everybody is able to attend the meeting and we can do it from our homes. 

The EMC provides tons of volunteer and job opportunities. Right now, we are volunteering with the SHINE Program of Excellence, Neighborhood Learning Alliance, and the Environmental Charter School. While the club doesn’t typically host regular events, we make it our job to prepare Education majors for their professional teaching experiences and to build resumes through volunteer experiences and education conferences. 

This year, we are also starting a Kappa Delta Pi chapter at Chatham. Kappa Delta Pi is the International Honor Society in Education. We are going to have our first induction ceremony next spring. 

 

Dr. Bartel’s EDU104, Perspectives on Education, is a great class for those students wanting to see if the Education major is for them. It’s an introduction class, but Dr. Bartel makes its so much fun! This class gives students a glimpse into what being a teacher would be like. 

 

Same as Creative Writing Club, as soon as I found out that there was a Book Club, I wanted to be a part of it. I love to read and Book Club seemed like the perfect fit for me. I love the club so much and am so glad to be Co-Chair. Beyond the Page Book Club doesn’t host regular meetings, instead we try to hold an event a month. For example, we just did Mocktails and in September, we had our annual Banned Book event. 

 

It’s extremely easy to join any of these clubs. If any individual is interested in joining, all they have to do is email or stop me on campus! My email is bterenskyrees@chatham.edu

 

My dream job is to be a teacher and an event planner on the side. I can’t wait to teach; it’s really all I think about. And I also really love to plan events so it would be amazing to do that on the side. 

 

In high school I never realized how strong of a feminist I am; my time at Chatham has definitely brought that out of me. I am a very independent and a strong woman because to Chatham. 

 

 

My high school Creative Writing teacher was so amazing! The way he cared for his students was incredible and I hope that I can inspire my future students the way he did for me. 

 

Speculative Fiction 

 

Flash Fiction

 

J.K. Rowling, Margaret Atwood, and Jeff Lindsay. I just love all of those authors and having the chance to meet them, especially all at once, would be incredible! 

 

Fred and George Weasley. I can’t pick between the two, they are a package deal I think. 

 

Mr. Feeny from Boy Meets World! I think it’s amazing how he was able to teach in a more traditional, lecture-type way and still inspire and influence his students like he did. He was their biggest supporter, but their hardest critic. I definitely want to try more progressive styles of teaching in my future classroom, but I hope that I have the same influence over students like he did. 

 

I think my ultimate Chatham class would mix English and Education. My favorite English class so far at Chatham was Shakespeare Survey with Dr. Bruckner. I would love a class that taught me how to teach an intimidating subject or concept, like Shakespeare, in a really fun way. Shakespeare Survey was my favorite course because it took a completely different approach to Shakespeare and I found that I liked all of those plays and sonnets that I hated in high school. I would love to be able to do that as a teacher.