An interview with 2021 St. Norbert graduate Anna VanSeveren:
AV: Thank you for sitting down to talk with us today, Anna.
AV: Happy to be here, Anna.
AV: As you think about your journey as an English student over the last four years, can you tell us a little bit about where you started? What skills did you already have coming into college as an English student?
AV: Oh, boy. Four years seems like such a long time ago, but it went by so fast. How is that possible? Anyway, I’ve always been a fairly competent writer, especially when it comes to literary analysis, so I brought some solid knowledge of close reading with me when I started college. Additionally, my critical reading skills were pretty well developed in high school, so I came into St. Norbert with confidence in that area. While my skill level on these topics were fairly basic, having this baseline knowledge made the transition into college easier and more fun to build on.
AV: So would you agree, then, that your AP Literature teacher was right when he said that struggling through “Heart of Darkness” would make you a better English student in the long-run?
AV: No comment.
AV: Okay, moving on. What types of challenges did you face in your first semesters of college?
I didn’t have many challenges once I started at St. Norbert, but I definitely had my fair share coming into college. I started college at a different school with a very different future in mind than I have now. For a variety of reasons, I left that school after just one month, feeling very lost and confused. St. Norbert had never been a school on my radar because both of my parents went there, and I was not going to be the sibling that would prove them right and follow in their footsteps, thank you very much. After coming home, however, St. Norbert became one of my only options, so follow in their footsteps I did. In hindsight, these “setbacks” were incredibly beneficial to me because they forced me to pursue what I wanted, rather than what others wanted for me. This, of course, was studying English. Once I started at St. Norbert in the spring of 2018, I found I had very little challenges because I was finally where I was supposed to be and studying what I had always wanted.
AV: Do your parents often gloat about being right that you should have gone to St. Norbert in the first place?
AV: Only every day.
AV: Now, thinking about your experience as an English student, what were the major things you learned?
AV: How much time do we have? Really, I could go on for a while because I learned a lot of great and valuable things as an English major. I’ll try and keep it short, though. One of the biggest things I gained as an English major is a greater appreciation for literature. The professors at St. Norbert really made the older, drier texts interesting and fun to learn about, especially in the survey classes. I also learned the importance of placing texts in the context of the historical period they in which they were written. I did not expect to learn so much about history as an English major, but I love that I did. The survey classes also placed emphasis on the literary canon and understanding literature more broadly. I was able to use this knowledge in my later essays, especially in my final Dickens essay. I made connections between Dickens’ work and works by other authors I read in other classes. I think the ability to make these connections is important, as it shows I am able to bring literature across history into conversation with each other. As much as I might have hated it at the time, English 305 was a really valuable course and actually gave me a huge interest in literary criticism and research. My experiences in that class, using and learning about different literary theories, are a big reason why I’ll be pursuing an MS in Library and Information Science.
AV: An English major becoming a librarian. Isn’t that a little on the nose?
AV: Yes, yes it is.
AV: You talked before about the skills you already had when you started college. What about the thinking and writing skills you gained along the way? Basically, what are your strengths as a student?
AV: Probably one of my biggest strengths is that I love school and learning. As sarcastic as that sounds, it’s really not. I’m a nerd, I know, but I genuinely enjoyed all of the classes I took as an English student. I feel like I was an enthusiastic student who wanted to just dive head-first into anything I did. I also love writing more than anything else in the world, and while my passion is creative writing, I’m also one of those weird people who don’t hate writing essays. I didn’t go into an essay thinking, “This is just something I have to get done in order to graduate.” I went into it actually looking forward to picking apart a text piece by piece. All that being said, I think my openness to learn and grow as a writer really helped me along the way. The first essay I wrote in English 150 looks nothing like the last essay I wrote in English 489, which is definitely a good thing. I have become much more analytical and detail-oriented in my writing and much more critical in my thinking.
AV: What do you consider to be the most valuable aspects of your experience as an English major, both inside and outside of the classroom?
AV: In terms of inside the classroom, there are a number of classes and professors that made my experience as an English student a great one. I took English 150 with Professor Westergan, and he is definitely the type of professor that can make old, “boring” texts absolutely fascinating. That class really made me feel like I made the right choice in choosing English as a major and gave me a huge appreciation for texts of different cultures and religions. Both creative writing classes I took with Dr. MacDiarmid were probably my two favorite classes I took as an English Major because of my love for creative writing. I loved having the freedom to write whatever I was inspired to write, and Dr. MacDiarmid created an environment that made it easy to share my work with others. I took the second U.S. Survey with Dr. Egan-Ryan in the Fall 2020 semester, and even though the class was completely online, our small class size made discussion enjoyable, and the texts Dr. Egan-Ryan chose made discussion easy. I also have to give a special shout-out to Dr. Egan-Ryan because she was a fantastic advisor.
As for outside the classroom, I participated in Sigma Tau Delta, Graphos, and the Literary Awards, all of which made being an English major that much more fun. Additionally, the writing skills I developed as an English student helped me in my collaborative research project with Dr. Kretz from Communication & Media Studies. We studied the persuasive potential of entertainment television on college students’ attitudes and intended behaviors related to sexual assault and drinking. I also had an internship as a blog writer with Unity Hospice, and while valuable, it taught me that working in a marketing department just isn’t for me. All of these experiences have put me on the path I’m on today, so I am grateful for each and every one of them.
AV: It sounds like you have had a great time as an English student, but is there anything you wish could have been improved or things you would like to see that you did not?
AV: The only thing I can think of is that I wish there would have been a class that explored queer literature and queer authors throughout history. I would have taken that class in a heartbeat. I made do, though, by using queer theory in a couple of my essays about The Awakening and David Copperfield. So, *shrugs shoulders*. I still think a class that focuses exclusively on queer literature would be amazing, though.
AV: Yes, you definitely like to “queerify” texts that wouldn’t normally be viewed that way, don’t you?
AV: It’s what I do.
AV: And finally, how has your experience as an English major changed you?
AV: My experience as an English major has definitely contributed to my personal and intellectual development. It has not really contributed to my spiritual development, and I didn’t really expect it to, since I’m not a very spiritual/religious person to begin with. I feel like I have grown so much during my time as an English major, and not just as a student. I met a lot of great people and accomplished many things that I am really proud of. This is sappy, but I felt at home as an English student, like I belonged, and this helped my personal development immensely. I think I have become a more well-rounded individual in general because of my experiences as an English major and my experiences in my other major and minor.
AV: Awesome, thanks for your time today, Anna.
AV: Thanks, Anna.
