MTSU Write Alumni Spotlight: Kaitlynn Means
“I can only hope that I’ll be able to impact others the way Dr. Arroyo and the MTSU Write program have impacted me.”
MTSU Write is a from-home mentorship program within the English Department. It is a three-semester program, working with new and experienced writers in fiction, non-fiction, poetry, screenwriting, and playwriting across the nation.
Kaitlynn is a master’s student pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Memphis. She is a novelist these days, but she also enjoys writing short fiction.
“I enjoy suspenseful and thrilling narratives so I always try to add an element of menace or something unexpected that challenges the reader’s perspective on what healthy relationships look like.”
Taking the label of “writer” upon yourself takes confidence. Kaitlynn shares how the MTSU Write Program gave her that confidence. Her mentor, Dr. Fred Arroyo, was also her professor in undergraduate fiction writing classes, and Kaitlyn talks about how he gave her encouragement to take that title for herself from the beginning.
“He gave me permission to claim the title and to believe it and that has been one of the biggest game changers for me.”
Once she completed undergrad, she knew that she wanted to do the MFA program and go on to inspire students the way that Dr. Arroyo had inspired her. As her Write mentor, Dr. Arroyo tailored the program to meet the rigorous demands that she would face as a MFA student. In doing the mentorship, she found the guidance and detailed attention she needed to figure out just who she was as a writer. She went through the program in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, and those semesters enabled her to find a foundation in examining the craft of other writers and comparing it to her own.
“This is such a wonderful opportunity to not only develop your skills as a writer but to discover who you are and what matters to you.”
Now in her second year of the MFA program, Kaitlynn is already making her goal of making an impact on future writers a reality. She is concluding her first semester of teaching English at the University of Memphis, and while difficult at times, she calls it “the most fulfilling job I’ve ever done.” Kaitlynn looks ahead to when she will finish her MFA and hopefully continue to carry the torch of her past English professors in teaching.
Gloria Newton is a senior English major at MTSU with minors in Art, Psychology, and Mass Communication. She loves seeing other people’s stories as well as telling her own through all forms of art, and every genre of writing.
