english bio

When the Seniors that are a part of the department of English graduate, they publish a little bio in the schools bi-yearly "Wordhord"-- here is my write up:

I can still remember my first English class as a freshman. Somehow I wound up in Dr. Lundberg’s Intro. to Lit. Studies, and feared that getting my English Teaching major was an unachievable task. By the end of that class, however, I realized I was going to be pushed and challenged, but also inspired and encouraged along the way (I would also have to figure out exactly what was meant by “too verbose”).
As time moved on I tried to take as many English classes as possible, and found my place sitting in circles in the classrooms of Grandberg. I’ll miss the beauty of reading each other’s poetry, and the emotion of listening to a classmate read a memoir piece she wrote. I will miss the safe place to create and express and discuss—the safe place to admit that you read and write for pleasure. Some of my best memories stem from these classes, whether it was Dr. Kensak telling us we would be “exploring with our tongues” in linguistics, or drinking some of Carl’s apple cider that had the potential to be almost illegal on campus grounds, or taking a field trip in Fynaardt’s Lit. of the West class that led us to three states in one day!
After getting married in June, my husband and I will be moving to Louisville, Kentucky, and as I make my way into the world as an English teacher, I hope that I can take many of the aspects I found within the English Department of Northwestern. I hope my students find the classroom a safe place to express and create. I hope that they can also see the power of the written word and the beauty of writing their own stories—or at least understand the difference between there and their, and maybe even someday, they’re.
And now, in an effort to prove that over my four years I have learned the art of being concise, I will end this bio. To all my professors here: Thank you for teaching me how beautiful and how haunting words can be, and for showing me that each empty notebook is endless with possibilities.

Kelsey Carroll
English Teaching