Program: MAE

Graduate Assistant Role: Writing Center Outreach Team Leader, Writing Center Tutor

Accomplishments: First place in American Literature and Film Critical Essay at the 2009 Sigma Tau Delta Conference

Favorite Period of Study: Medieval Literature

Favorite Genre of Writing: This is a tough one – I really enjoy long fiction, but I also enjoy short non-fiction.

Plans for the school year: I’m a part of EGSA, I’m helping organize the Illinois Medieval Association Conference, I will attend the 46th International Congress on Medieval Studies in May, 2011, and I will be applying to PhD Programs.

I’m a weird combination of interests and ambitions. I love Medieval literature, from The Dream of the Rood to the Canterbury Tales, but I’m also attracted to gothic novels like Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein, as well as modern works like Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Infinite Jest. Allen Ginsberg, Adrienne Rich, Walt Whitman, and Zbigniew Herbert rock my poetry world, and I’ve even been known to rave about Paradise Lost. My music preferences are rather scattered, too. My favorite band is Blue October, followed closely by Jack’s Mannequin. But you can find all sorts of artists on my iPod: Enya, Liz Phair, Nada Surf, Lady Gaga, Avril Lavigne, Vertical Horizon, Oasis, Styx, Pachelbel Canon, and plenty of others. The thing to know is that I’m not a total art groupie. I’m actually a pretty decent athlete, and I’m often training for a half or full marathon.

But the really important stuff: purple is my favorite color, I have two tattoos and 6 piercings, I’m a cat and a dog person, I have unfulfilled dreams of learning ballet, and I think red roses are trite.

Stay tuned for more graduate assistant profiles in this series.