From: Lawrenceville, Georgia

Why Georgia College: I chose Georgia College, because I love the idea of going to a liberal arts college. It let me explore so many subjects, like art and biology.

Major: English with a concentration in Literature. It gave me the answers to life’s questions.

Research: I worked with Dr. Julian Knox on a paper about the Romantic-era poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge that got accepted to the Friends of Coleridge conference in the U.K.

Study Abroad during COVID: It was definitely a stressful time to go abroad, as no one knew what we could and could not do. I got confirmation I’d be going to the University of Winchester in the U.K. only a few weeks before the semester started. Every day more and more excursions were canceled, and I thought for sure this would be one of them. When I got there, I had every week planned out for the rest of the semester. I would be going to a new city each week, sometimes two. I knew it’d be difficult. But I planned my trips safely—mostly to outdoor events, never with large groups and always wearing a mask. As long as I kept my health and everyone else’s health in mind, I felt there were still plenty of opportunities to travel. In my first month, I saw the Roman baths in the city of Bath, the British Museum, Stonehenge, Oxford College, Cambridge College, and I ate at more pubs than I could count. After that, however, the whole country went on lockdown for a month.

In a way, Covid sort of made my abroad experience more authentic and interesting. Most of the extremely tourist-y places and events were closed, due to the lockdown and large gatherings not being safe. Apart from some of the big ones like London Eye, I had to make my own adventures and use my imagination. I skipped the world-famous Harry Potter tour in Oxford and instead wandered around campus and got lost in streets of family-owned market vendors. I would pretend I was a student at Oxford and interact the people there, as if I was one of them. I met a group of students who took me to hidden gems around Oxford and gave me a taste of what it’s like to actually live there, not simply be a tourist in a city.

Favorite class & professor: Any class with Dr. Knox has to be my favorite. He has a wonderful way of inviting every student to share their experiences and opinions in ways that make them actually want to participate and be heard. He challenges everyone to think differently, and I’ve learned so much from him that I can only hope to be as good of a teacher as him.

Most impactful moment: The most impactful moment in college for me was when I had my paper accepted to an international conference in the United Kingdom. It just evaporated all my worries of whether or not I was good enough to be in this field and to actually make a difference in the world of literature.

How changed in college: I think my priorities have changed the most since I got here. I came to college as a biology major, because I thought that was the field with the most security. I came to realize that’s not what it’s all about. College showed me it’s more important to find what you’re passionate about and pursue that because, in the end, that’s all that matters.

Will miss the most: I’ll definitely miss the wonderful conversations that go on in all my English classes. With the small class sizes, I’ve gone through the program with pretty much the same people since the beginning, and we have formed a close-knit group. That fosters an environment where we can openly express our opinions and have them challenged, while still remaining close.

Advice for incoming students: My best advice is to remember why you’re here at college. This is a wonderful opportunity, not a requirement. So, you will get out of it as much as you put into it.

Future goal: Right now, I am waiting to hear back from grad schools. But, further down the line, I’d like to be an English teacher. Passing on my knowledge and love for literature is the only thing I know for certain that I want to do with my future.

How Georgia College prepared you for this goal: Georgia College helped me change my priorities and gave me a place where I can explore so many different fields. I was lucky. I realized my true passion lies in literature very early in my college years, and I hope that everyone gets the chance to find this. It might not be where you first expected it; it certainly wasn’t for me.