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Amy Vandervelde \u201821 <\/b>is a former English department student worker AND <\/span>Words<\/span><\/i> editor! She graduated just last spring, with majors in English Lit and Classics, and a Political Science minor. Amy\u2019s now a PhD student in Classical Philology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), where she focuses on Latin and Ancient Greek. She\u2019s currently researching the mythical figure of Perspehone. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you have a favorite memory from the English department? What about a favorite class\/professor?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n I think my favorite memories are days spent in the copy room early on Monday mornings with my fellow student workers\u2014Dalton Greene, Julia Joy, and Sophie Hilker. We always had a fun time setting up Bagel Monday and starting the coffee up. Dreary Mondays were always all the better when I was in the Mac English department.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n If I had to pick a favorite class in the English department, I would choose Professor Geng\u2019s Demonology course. I absolutely <\/span>loved<\/span><\/i> that class. It was the perfect amount of spooky and gothic horror.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you have a favorite memory from The Words?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a hard question for me. I really enjoyed all of my time spent as an editor for <\/span>The Words<\/span><\/i>. I always loved our writing process when we were wrapping up edits and having our weekly meetings alongside department Treat Night. Writing for <\/span>The Words<\/span><\/i> gave me the opportunity to share the wholesome experience of being a part of the Mac English department community with others and to spread the word about all the exciting aspects of our department.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n What has been the most surprising thing about your grad school experience so far? How about the most exciting thing? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n Grad school has certainly already been full of surprises, but I think the most surprising element has been how much the grad student cohort here reminds me of the great groups that I was a part of at Macalester. We are all a totally supportive bunch here, and we are always cheering each other on. Some of us within the Classics grad cohort have even formed an intramural softball team this year, so we\u2019ll see how that goes for us.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n My most exciting experience in grad school was attending my first academic conference with some of my department peers. We traveled from UIUC to Wake Forest University in North Carolina for the 118<\/span>th<\/span> Classical Association of the Midwest and South conference just last week. It was an unforgettable experience. We were able to bond as a group outside of our usual setting, and I had so much fun attending panels and listening to my peers\u2019 papers and those of other colleagues that I met at the conference.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n How did your time at Macalester (specifically in the English department) influence your grad school experience? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n My English major experience has supported me leaps and bounds here in grad school. While my program is heavily language focused, I like to look at things from a very literary perspective, which often helps me find some interesting research ideas. Some of the papers I worked on in my undergrad time at Mac\u2014like a paper of mine that Professor Elkins knows well on intertextuality in Ali Smith\u2019s <\/span>Autumn<\/span><\/i>\u2014have continued to stay with me here in grad school. One of my current papers that I am working on is looking at intertextuality in Cicero\u2019s translated poetry. The literary theories that I learned and worked with in undergrad are framing many of my questions in grad school.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n My undergrad experience has always greatly impacted the way I approach writing assignments. From every literature and creative writing class I took at Macalester, I have come to grad school with a clear sense of how I like to write and revise my own writing. I still change it up and try new methods every once in a while, but generally all of my writing work in undergrad has bettered my graduate writing astronomically.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n What advice would you give to current English majors who are applying to grad school? What do you wish you\u2019d known as an undergrad? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n My advice: you have far more skills than you give yourself credit for. I am not someone with the greatest sense of self-confidence, so trust me when I say this. You are far more skilled than you admit. You don\u2019t want to be hubristic in your applications by any means, but you should be confident in your abilities. It\u2019s something I\u2019m still working on. Small things from not saying \u201cthis paper is totally bad\u201d to saying \u201cthis paper has some not so great pieces, but it has some awesome ideas in it as well.\u201d These little changes in your attitude and self-confidence can go a long way.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/603\/2022\/04\/Amy_Conference-300x225.jpg\")
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