Senior Writing Portfolio Students
Millikin University

Bethany Tabb

biography

Bethany has loved books since her second birthday when she only asked her family for books. She was angry on her first day of kindergarten because she didn’t learn to read. After mastering the art of reading, she went on to receive the Five-Time Super Reader award in the fourth grade. Though she explored other career avenues while in high school, she decided she was passionate about books and wanted a career in publishing.

Bethany went to Millikin to pursue a degree in English. She is co-editor-in-chief of the Decaturian and enjoys sitting around the Dec office and throwing m&ms. She is also senior editor of Bronze Man Books, a student publishing company, a James Millikin Scholar, and she tutors at the Writing Center and works at Berean Bookstore. Bethany is insanely busy but she loves it.

This December, Bethany will graduate with a BA in English Writing. After graduation, she hopes to work in the editorial department of a book publishing company.

writing theory

The Art of Editing

I write for many purposes—informing, entertaining, or expressing something important to me. I write for personal clarity, sorting my thoughts in work no one sees but me. I write out of frustration or relief, out of delight or regret. My first reaction when anything of significance happens is to write.

But in spite of this, I don’t consider myself a writer.

This does not necessarily mean I think I’m a bad writer, or even that I don’t enjoy it. I will probably write in one form or another for the rest of my life. I say I’m not a writer because that isn’t where my true passion is. If I am anything, I am an editor.

When many people think of editing, they imagine tedious hours of correcting grammar and punctuation errors. While copyediting is important, it is only a minor part of editing. I love receiving a piece of writing and tweaking it until I’m satisfied. Sometimes this involves quite a bit of work, but in most cases it only takes a few minor adjustments. This process is at times frustrating. When I read the end result, the effort is always worth it.

My goal is always to improve the author’s work, never to impose my voice or thoughts on someone else’s writing. I’ll admit this isn’t always easy. It’s difficult to remember that my way isn’t always the best for the particular piece of writing. Above everything I must maintain the author’s voice, even if it means leaving a sentence I don’t like. This is something I have yet to master and will take quite a bit of work. After more experience, however, I am confident it will come more naturally.

Editing is more than correcting errors. It is an art, a process of refinement. I only hope I can continue to be a part of it.

writing sample

Crime is definitely not an uncommon occurrence on campus, but in the past few years it seems to have become even worse. Last year my roommates and I were afraid to walk by ourselves at night because of someone we referred to as scary bicycle man. We’d heard that he had forced his way into a girl’s car and stolen money. I wanted Safety and Security to do something about what I felt was a threat to my safety. Their email response, however, was less than desirable. After I read this email, I did just what any Decaturian editor would do and wrote an article about it. This editorial was in response to an interim crime report Safety and Security sent to Millikin students that gave them helpful advice on how to stop crime.

Safety and Security stops short

I recently received an email crime report detailing robberies or attempted robberies that have occurred around campus. Apparently a man on a bicycle contacted several students and faculty in an intimidating manner, asking if they have an ATM card and demanding that they give him money. In one instance the man entered the car of a student and forced that person to drive to various ATMs. I suppose none of the ATMs worked because eventually the student had to write the man a check.

Though crime is not an unusual occurrence in Decatur, this particular crime disturbs me. Walking alone at night is often unavoidable, and this man or someone else could approach us at any time. Many people, along with myself, wonder what we can do to avoid letting something like this happen.

Luckily for us, the crime report gives us an answer. If at any time you are threatened by a man claiming to have a gun, you must only remember this: Police authorities typically recommend doing everything possible to avoid leaving the scene with an unwanted passenger in one’s car.

Decatur police and Safety and Security also advise you to look both ways before crossing the street and to never run with scissors.

Perhaps the aforementioned robbery went a little something like this:

Man on bike: Pardon me, ma’am, but I seem to be short on cash. Would you care to loan me some?

Girl in car: Why, certainly. I am a college student and therefore have money to spare. Just step in my car and I will drive you to various ATMs until I have emptied my checking account.

If this is the best advice that the police can offer, perhaps we should all invest in pepper spray.

I can only imagine that being robbed is a terrifying and traumatic experience. Anyone who has been through something like this would probably agree that no one should have to be violated in such a way. It is highly unlikely that this crime was due to an invitation for the man to get in the car.

People are genuinely frightened of being robbed by this man. Many people aren’t comfortable walking at night alone. The threat is real, and students need to be reassured and protected. They need authorities to do more than send emails with obvious safety rules. Awareness is important, but at some point action needs to be taken.