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A Farewell to Our English Major
Seniors
The time has come to say goodbye to our English majors who are
moving on to life after college. Yes, there is life after
college. The Printing Press, along with all of the
other English majors and minors and the staff, would like to bid
farewell to these fine students, wishing them success in all that
they do and luck in all that happens to them. To those
graduating, we would say: Good bye, good bye, "parting is such sweet
sorrow..."
We asked the seniors to respond to a
short survey that we ask annually in order to have something to
remember them by and give them their chance to impart wisdom to
those they will leave behind.
Here are their responses:
Ryan Schrodt
What is your fondest memory of Monmouth College?
As an English
major, hearing Watson read “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” in
American II was a definite highlight, but I could never forget other
things like being elected as Student Senate President and spending a
semester studying at the Newberry Library in Chicago. In the end
though, there have been so many stupid adventures and misadventures
that will always stick with me.
What will you miss most about Monmouth College?
What won't you miss about Monmouth College?
There is way too
much that I will miss around here, whether it by friends and
faculty, the great classes I took, or just the general experience of
college life in Monmouth. Heck, I may even miss the cafeteria food
(I mean it’s already paid for and I don’t have to cook it). I won’t
miss being in the middle of nowhere for the past four years, having
to wake up for 8:00am classes. I also won’t miss that year and a
half that I spent as an Education major.
What made you want to become an English major?
Becoming an English
major was really just a natural continuation of my life-long love
for literature. I can’t imagine ever majoring in anything else.
Besides, I heard that being a Phys Ed major is really hard.
What author or piece of literature that you studied in any English
class do you despise the most?
What is your most favourite?
I always
have and always will despise anything written by Hemingway. I’m not
much for burning books, but I’ll light the first match when it comes
to anything he has written. My favorite authors to study would be
Keats, Chaucer, and Virginia Woolf. Also, I really can’t get enough
Heart of Darkness.
What has been the most challenging aspect of the English major?
Coming up with new
ways to make fun of Mark and Rob has provided quite a challenge
through the years. Academically, however, the biggest challenge
has been continually pushing myself to improve my abilities as an
English major.
What
English class taught you the most?
Taking Chaucer as a
freshman definitely taught me what challenges I would face as an
English major and set a precedent for the next few years. Overall,
though, English 200 (“Boot Camp”) was where I made the most
improvement as a student.
What
are your plans for after college?
I will probably
turn tricks in some big city for a year or so until I can afford to
go to graduate school, hopefully at the University of Virginia or
the University of Michigan. I’d like to eventually get my doctorate
in English and teach at the college level. If that doesn’t work, I
will just have to marry a supermodel and live happily ever after.
Lastly, What
final words would you like to say to any English major(s) on campus?
Keep
reading, keep revising, and enjoy your time here while you have the
chance.
Eric Seaman
What is your fondest memory of Monmouth College?
Study Abroad…lol…I wasn’t at Monmouth…go figure.
What will you miss most about Monmouth College?
People who know your name and think you are cooler than you really
are, perhaps because you are an English Major.
What won't you miss about Monmouth College?
Papers.
What made you want to become an English major?
Books.
What author or piece of literature that you studied in any English
class do you despise the most?
Any Gertrude Stein
What is your most favourite?
Heart of Darkness or Eugene O’Neill
What has been the most challenging aspect of the English major?
Learning how to write.
What English class taught you the most?
Mark’s 20th Century British Literature class that turned
into British Poetry.
What faculty member has had the most impact on your life at Monmouth
College?
They have all helped me in their own way.
What are your plans for after college?
What a horribly mean question to ask.
Lastly, What final words would you like to say to any English
major(s) on campus?
This seems
obvious, yet somehow needs to be said: “READ.”
Kim Bennett
What is your fondest memory of Monmouth College?
As a commuter
I don't really have a lot of memories from campus, but I would say
my fondest memory of Monmouth College was watching my brother Troy
play basketball for the Scots.
What will you miss most about Monmouth College?
Gee, probably writing a million papers a semester.
What won't you miss about Monmouth College?
Same as above. And driving back and forth
from Galesburg like 3 times a day.
What made you want to become an English major?
I've always
loved reading since I was a kid and English was always my favorite
subject in school. My high school English teacher was pretty cool
and she convinced me that I had the writing skills to be an English
major.
What
author or piece of literature that you studied in any English class
do you despise the most?
Most of
them. They're fine when you just read them, but when you have to
analyze them, write about them and apply criticism to them...you
tend to get sick of them.
What is your most favourite?
I really like
Shakespearean tragedy and comedies.
What has been the most challenging aspect of the English major?
Senior
Seminar!
What English class taught you the most?
I think
Advanced Composition taught me the most because it taught me to
write in a way that I never had before. The writing was about
myself and my experiences, things that I hadn't been able to write
about in other classes.
What faculty member has had the most impact on your life at Monmouth
College?
Probably Mark
Willhardt. He was the first faculty member that I met when I
transferred here and he's a pretty good advisor.
What are your plans for after college?
I'm getting
married in September and I plan to attend Law School the next fall.
Lastly, What final words would you like to say to any English
major(s) on campus?
Good Luck!
Kat Neilson
What made you want to become an English major?
My
love of literature and English in general.
What author or piece of literature that you studied in
any English class do you despise the most?
I
just dislike most contemporary writers, because I'm
biased like that.
What is your most favourite?
Tennyson!!!
What has been the most challenging aspect of the English
major?
My senior paper.
What English class taught you the most?
As much
as I hate to say it, English 200 taught me the most
skills to be successful as an English major :)
What faculty member has had the most impact on your life
at Monmouth College?
This
is like picking favorites and that's no fun... but if I
have to pick just one, I'd probably say Rob Hale because
he has been an excellent mentor and advisor!
What are your plans for after college?
My plans are still up in the air.
Lastly, What final words would you like to say to any
English major(s) on campus?
Tennyson is the best poet ever!
Meryem Zaman
What is your
fondest memory of Monmouth College?
My favorite Monmouth college memory takes
place outside Monmouth College. I think my fondest memory of
Monmouth is of a trip the International club took to Chicago.
What will you miss most about Monmouth College?
I think I'll miss everything. A partial list
includes my room, friends, professors, even homework.
What won't you miss about Monmouth College?
Cafeteria food.
What made you want to become an English major?
I love to read, and I love to write. It seemed
like the obvious choice. Of course, I started rethinking the love to
write part after my first English class here.
What author or piece of literature that you studied in any English
class do you despise the most?
I'm not sure there is one. The list of novels
and poets I dislike is extensive, but I don't think I despised any
of them.
What is your most favourite?
I really love Hamlet.
What has been the most challenging aspect of the English major?
Dr. Hale's study guides.
What English class taught you the most?
I enjoyed all my English classes, but there
are two I wouldn't have missed: English 200 and Advanced
Composition.
What faculty member has had the most impact on your life at Monmouth
College?
Umm... All of them? I'm really not sure who's
impacted me most. All of the English faculty have impacted and
changed (for the better) my academic skills.
What are your plans for after college?
Is there life after college? I'm not sure what
I'll do after I graduate. I'm going to go to Pakistan and get a job
for a year or two, maybe working at an NGO. After that I'd like to
go to graduate school, but my plans are all very nebulous right now.
Lastly, What final words would you like to say to any English
major(s) on campus?
I'd say something pretentious about life,
college and majoring in English, but I'm sure it's already been
said. So, unpretentiously: enjoy class, do as much homework as you
feel like doing and remember, If you can pass English 200, you
shouldn't have a problem with other classes.
Jarred Mauck
What is your
fondest memory of Monmouth College?
I do not have one specific
favorite memory of Monmouth College. There have been many great
people and events that I have experienced.
What will you miss most about Monmouth College?
I’ll probably miss the
people the most. The faculty was great and I had a lot of good
friends as well.
What won't you miss about Monmouth College?
I definitely will not miss
the senior thesis I am currently writing.
What made you want to become an English major?
I always liked to read and
write and the members of the English faculty I met were pretty
influential in the decision.
What author or piece of literature that you studied in any English
class do you despise the most?
I didn’t like any of the
Puritan works we had to read for American Survey.
What is your most favourite?
I definitely liked Lord
Byron’s Don Juan.
What has been the most challenging aspect of the English major?
The previously mentioned
thesis.
What English class taught you the most?
Both surveys taught me a lot
as did most of the 350 level classes I took.
What faculty member has had the most impact on your life at Monmouth
College?
Both Rob Hale and Mark
Willhardt have greatly influenced my education here at Monmouth.
I don’t know if they’ll be proud of that or not.
What are your plans for after college?
To attend graduate school in
some field of psychology.
Lastly, What final words would you like to say to any English
major(s) on campus?
Take advantage of the awesome English faculty we have here. Some
of them may seem goofy, but they are surprisingly intelligent.
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