Degrees: B.A. in English and French (emphasis in Creative Writing)
How did the Stamps Scholarship help shape your undergraduate experience?
The Stamps Scholarship has shaped my undergraduate experience in a tremendous way by placing me within a community of scholars who have also become my friends. It has also greatly expanded my academic interests by affording me the opportunity to study abroad in France (semester) and Ireland (summer). Without this experience, I would never have advanced in my French studies and added French as a double major. Now, I have accepted a job teaching English in France for the upcoming year and eventually plan to return to the United States and (possibly) teach French!
Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your freshman self?
Spend your time wisely.
Who has had the greatest impact on you throughout your college career and how so?
It’s hard to pinpoint any one person who has had the greatest impact on me throughout my college career. Of course my family, friends, and teachers have been incredibly supportive in encouraging me to strive to become the best version of myself – academically and personally. My host family in France, though, stands out to me for their extraordinary kindness and the role-model example they set for me. From them I learned “how” I want to be more so than “what” I want to be, which ultimately gave me a greater sense of direction in discovering the latter as well.
What’s your favorite Stamps Scholar memory?
So this wasn’t the most “fun” Stamps Scholar memory, but it still seems to resonate with me, even though it occurred during my freshman year. My cohort decided to go on an Outward Bound dogsledding expedition in Minnesota. We learned survival skills in subzero temperatures and basically trekked through the snowy wilderness and across the frozen lakes for eight days while pushing the dogsleds. It was probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever done, and I ended up getting frostbite, but it was character-building and I’m glad and thankful to have had the experience with my fellow scholars.
What comes next?
I have accepted a job for the upcoming year teaching English at the high school level in a boarding school near Bordeaux, France.
Please share your favorite inspirational quote.
“Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience – or give it a more fascinating name, call it hope.” – Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility