LIFE

WCC and me: A recent graduate reflects

by Tyler Wettig
Contributor

A simple twist of fate, as Bob Dylan put it, is what brought me to the WCC Writing Center as a tutor in 2014; subsequently, similar fate is what brought me to WCC’s Human Library event last month. I suppose, though, that these were logical, if miraculous, mile markers in a journey that began with my parents’ deaths in 2004 and 2007, when I was 10 and 12, respectively.

In that span of time, I was nearly absorbed into a life of homelessness, addiction, and crime, only to be saved by my grandparents. My grandfather, a lawyer, professor, writer, painter and musician, permanently shifted my focus to education, and I never looked back.

A few of his paintings now hang in a corner of the Writing Center in what is lovingly known as the Herbert R. Schroeder Memorial Library.

Though my grandparents passed away before I began my senior year of high school, I heeded my grandfather’s wisdom on the importance of education and did not hesitate to enroll at Washtenaw Community College in 2013.

At the beginning of my second year, I applied, on a whim, to work in the Writing Center. I credit Tom Zimmerman’s belief in me for this position as the second most significant event in my life.

Thanks to the Writing Center, I’ve met some of my best friends, began a writing and publishing career, and learned how to be a better human being. It’s a place that I feel safer in than any other.

I graduated from WCC in 2016, and even in my continuing undergraduate studies at Eastern Michigan, WCC remains my second home.

I’m currently compiling my second and third collections of poems in the vein of William Blake’s motifs of Innocence and Experience: “The Adult Table” and “The Arctic Man.”

In this project, it feels like the incredible connections that I’ve made are coming full circle. Anthea Leigh and India Clark, among other WCC community members, make significant artistic contributions.

“The Arctic Man” (a title actually conceived by Anthea), drawing on the Innocence motif, is an autobiographical retrospective that intersperses journal entries from my grandfather dating back to 1967. “The Adult Table” draws on the Experience motif, is a sonnet sequence that chronicles my coming of age through my WCC years to present.

The Human Library event was the first time I had used any sort of public forum to disclose my story, and the reception I received was moving and inspiring. WCC positively changed my life forever, and I hope to continue to give back throughout the teaching career that it has afforded me the opportunity to pursue.

Tyler Wettig’s website:
tylerwettig.wordpress.com