What a great year for English majors and minors at Millikin University. The graduating seniors of 2003 includes students who are on their way to becoming high school teachers, technical writers, editors, journalists, grant writers, web designers, and musicians.

Some will be starting graduate studies in rhetoric, creative writing, literature, philosophy, history and educational psychology in the fall of 2003.

Dorina Aguilar
Chicago, IL

•

writing major
&
Spanish major

I was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 4, 1980. At the age of 12 I realized my calling was to be a writer after getting praise after praise for my work in a gifted writers class. I attended George Washington Elementary School in Chicago and Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond, IN. My involvement in writing began in junior high and led through high school with the yearbook staff, and continued at Millikin with news writing classes and working on the Decaturian, the university newspaper. I have spent the past 3 years at Millikin University earning a major in Spanish and writing with an emphasis on Journalism.

I have accepted a position with in advertising agency in Chicago. In the summer of 2002 I finished an internship with the Chicago Public Art Group, for whom I worked on several writing projects as well as write-ups on projects to help with grant proposals.

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My goal is to become a high school English teacher. Although I have been very involved in music on Millikin's campus as a member of University Choir, my focus became a pursuit of an education degree. I graduated with a degree in English Literature in 2002, and then I attended Millikin for an additional year to complete my English education major. I hope to teach in a suburban school, so that I might remain involved in the music program to some degree. I look forward to participating in school musicals and theatre productions along with teaching my literature courses.

At Millikin I was a Writing Center Peer Tutor which was a paid position. I worked one on one with fellow Millikin students, reading through their papers and addressing issues such as grammar, organization and topic focus/clarity. It was beneficial work experience, and I learned valuable lessons on working to solve personal writing issues. Being a writing center tutor offered experience in dealing with papers on a more advanced level. Because these papers belong to my peers, I learned to address issues that will be taught at the high school level (my area of interest).

Faced with teaching four sections of accelerated juniors and seniors at Mt. Zion high school during my student teaching, I was assigned to prepare and instruct two major units of writing: Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE) for the juniors and Term Paper for the seniors.  I was, at the very least, incredibly daunted with the responsibility of teaching these expectant students how to write effectively.  I had been a Teaching Assistant for a Millikin CWRR class the previous fall and had three years of experience working at the Millikin Writing Center to help me develop my philosophy of teaching writing and a workable plan, but I still felt slightly adrift, floating through theories and suggestions gleaned from past classes and helpful professors.  It wasn't until I sat down with my cooperating teacher, Mrs. Buske, a veteran teacher at Mt. Zion, that my philosophy of teaching writing began to truly take shape.  Mrs. Buske offered me the simplest, but possibly most profound bit of wisdom I had received in 4 1?2 years of higher education.  She told me to ask myself the question, "What's the Point?" 

My mind reeled at the time, thinking she was crazy.  The point was, very obviously, to make the students smarter.  But as I sat back and reflected on her deceptively uncomplicated advice, I realized that the most obvious question was the most important.  It is around this question, "What's the Point?" that my philosophy of teaching writing takes shape. 

My question in mind, I began to search for the answer from a variety of perspectives.  My education professors felt that the Point was to create an environment that offered all students an equal chance to learn.  My students felt that the Point was to pass their classes.  My national government felt that the Point was to measure writing skills on a formulaic rubric designed to produce a standardized form of writing.  This last answer stopped me in my tracks.  According to my administration, I was teaching these students to write so that they would be able to receive an above average grade on state tests and earn funds for the school district.  This idea left me cold and unmotivated as a teacher.  Was this really the Point? 

Absolutely not.  My life thus far has revolved around reading and writing, a content area I find as important to the workings of the world, if not more so, than business or finance.  To me, writing is more than a means to the end of school stability and funding.  Effective writing is an end in and of itself.  Writing is communication, an author reaching outside of himself to share ideas and connect with something larger than himself.  I found a kindred sentiment in the work of writing theorist Kenneth Burke, and I appropriately identified with his musings.  In his article, "Writing as Symbolic Action: a Polylogue," Burke writes that writing is a connective thread that humans find necessary to establish.  Burke theorizes, "In being identified with B, A is 'substantially one' with  person other than himself.  Yet at the same he remains unique"  (1020).  I realized then that this idea of communication and connecting was my Point.  At the end of our writing units, I wanted my students to know that they didn't learn how to pass a test, but that they learned how to better represent their ideas with persuasive clarity, defining themselves as unique individuals and simultaneously connecting with the larger community of discourse.

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Sarah Lutz
Morris, IL

•

literature major
&
English education

Jennifer Brandt
Wilmington, DE

•

writing major

I came into the English program at Millikin a little later than most of my peers. After three other majors and a love for writing I decided to join the English program after taking a creative writing class. It had been a long time since I had been told to write outside of the normal writing guidelines that I had grown accustomed to. Many of the creative writing classes I took from there on out taught me how to focus on where on my creative energy came from and to write all I could from that creative energy.

My writing has really developed from that lesson and not only in my creative pieces, but also in my essay papers and research projects. Much of the writing techniques I have learned at Millikin have been in the creative part of writing. I have not learned techniques or ways to improve my essay writing in any of my other English classes. I have taken some web development and publishing courses which have offered the chance to learn some other techniques of writing. My main focus through the English program has been to take whatever assignment that is given to me and to write out that assignment the best that I could, however, I have always learned that there is always room for improvement and better editing skills.

My experience with the English Department has been a good one. I have enjoyed my professors and how they teach, and I have learned how to express myself in a new way through my writing skills.

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(information still on its way) Audrey, send us an update!

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As a graduate student of rhetoric and composition at Purdue University in the fall of 2003, I am pleased to be given the opportunity to share with you my undergraduate experiences within the English discipline. I began my undergraduate journey at Millikin with a musical performance scholarship, but took writing courses with the intent to either double major or minor in creative writing. After two phenomenal English classes, however, I changed my major officially to English at the end of my freshman year.

The writing major at Millikin must choose a track of professional, journalistic, or creative writing. With a creative writing emphasis, I took many advanced writing classes and roundtables with the same small community of writers. We formed a wonderful rapport, and became comfortable, over time, exchanging work outside of class. My friend Ben, a fellow writer, joked with me at one point that I had three favorite sentence structures and two words that would ceaselessly emerge in my work. Although I retaliated with the fact that his references to pop culture rivaled The Waste Land's use of footnotes, this kind of comfortable exchange of criticism was cultivated through our writer's community and helped me enormously as a writer and reader.

During my junior year, I was invited to become a member of "The Glencoe Project," an intensive and select poetry workshop conducted for two hours every week off-campus. We invented, revised, and gave periodic readings as a group. The Glencoe Project forced me to not only focus my work but to hone my performance skills as well. We gave public readings, compiled our work for a chapbook, and held lavish spaghetti dinners. With this group, I further developed ties with fellow writers and truly began to understand the need for structured workshop environment within a group of like-minded writers. Millikin has given me a taste of a writing community's power in one's development, and I anticipate exploring further the notion of writing as an act of community in my graduate studies.

Millikin requires all of its English majors to take either a class in philosophy or religion. Not wanting to deny myself either, I enrolled in my first philosophy class, one concerned with both eastern philosophy and religion, and some pre-Socratic texts. An advocate of good discussion, I was immediately enticed by philosophy, and was inspired to take other such classes in order to gain a greater perspective of the humanities. Philosophy classes have influenced me immensely-my critical writing and reading skills are sharper than they had been, and I am forced, forever, to approach all intellectual matter with a broader frame of reference.

Millikin also offers its students many outside opportunities for field experience. As a junior, I assisted in planning Millikin's hosting of a feminist rhetoric conference, and was invited to give a paper. There, I schmoozed with respected scholars and felt empowered, even as a student, with my role in the discipline. Later in the year, I received funding from Millikin to attend the annual "Four Cs" conference in Chicago.

For the fall 2002 semester, I was a teaching assistant for a freshman honors composition class. My coordinating professor and I had a wonderful working relationship, and the experience has blown away all preconceived notions I had about students, their perceptions of writing, and the art of teaching. I have stood in front of a classroom, waving my hands in frustration over the noise level. I have facilitated discussion on things from invention strategies to Julie Styfer's revolutionary essay, "Why I Want a Wife." I have seen student progress and anticipated still an enormous amount of growth on all of our parts as the semester progresses. I am thankful for these and many other opportunities within the writing program at Millikin. While the writing program here is small and primarily self-motivated, great opportunities are available if one seeks them out.

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Socrates felt that the purpose of rhetoric was to find the Truth. I’m not sure I believe there is an ultimate truth to be found, but I also enjoy using my powers of reason and speech in an attempt to find truth. The only way I have experienced writing as an aid to this goal is as a reader. I do not consider myself a writer and do not really desire to become one. My favorite writers, however, are non-fiction writers of cultural criticism. These types of writing invite me to think and to consider the thoughts of others. This idea is very much in keeping with Socrates’ ideas for rhetoric.

In the Phaedrus dialogue, Socrates tells a story of the Egyptian god Theuth, in which the King asks Theuth what use writing will be to mankind. Theuth replies that writing "will make the Egyptians wiser and will improve their memories…" (p.141) The King disagrees and points out that writing will cause men to stop practicing the use of their memories and make them forgetful. Looking at modern society, one can see that the King had a valid point. Like most people I know, I use writing instead of my memory. The art of writing did bring about the slow demise of the oral tradition and the loss of the role of the bard. Today, for better or worse, authors fill that role.

I am not a bard nor an author. My long-term goal for my writing is to use it to know myself better. Socrates would approve of this goal. Knowing myself will allow me to be a better person and live a more examined life. I cannot work for social justice unless I know what I believe in and want from society. Writing is a powerful tool, but I do not desire to use it in any way that will influence anyone other than myself. I need to know what I think, but I don’t feel that the entire world needs—or cares—to know.

Long-term goals are tricky ideas to pin down. Not being twenty years old, what is long-term to me might be a different set of priorities. I am not looking to become rich and/or famous. I understand that my importance in the world is on a personal level. Ultimately, we all really matter only to the people who know and love us and even the famous are only truly known and loved by a few. If my writing helps someone else to understand their life in a different way, that would be great, but mostly, I want to write for my own understanding. My long-term goal for my writing is to tell myself the truth.

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I am an overmeticulous writer who is too hypercritical of his own works.
I enjoy writing creative non-fiction, but have started writing some fiction for kicks. I play frisbee and board games like no other, I do stupid things to my hair, and generally disgregard social norms.

My senior writing project was to take my old works and infuse them with a new energy that I've recently stumbled across in my writing. I hope to finally finish some of these works that have been sitting around my "word-hoard" for years.

My poetics:

1) Write without thinking, and let the characters be themselves.

2) Write by hand, so as to enjoy the feel of writing, and be more in touch with the work.

3) Edit like there's no tomorrow.

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(information still on its way) Carrie, send us an update!

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Originally from Davis, Illinois, I am a double major in communication and writing with a minor in Spanish. I have been involved in a variety of organizations on Millikin's campus including: Delta Delta Delta social sorority, WJMU, The Decaturian production and copy editors, Panhellenic Council, Recruitment council, Orientation Leader, and Homecoming Committee Coronation Co-chair to name a few. I have also been nominated to be in many honorary fraternities in the academic world. These include: Alpha Lambda Delta- freshman honors, Sigma Tau Delta- English fraternity, Lambda Pi Eta- Communication honorary, Order of Omega- all-Greek honors society, and Phi Kappa Phi. Next fall I will be starting my studies for a law degree from Valparaiso University.

To be a writing major at Millikin University is to get used to the joy of approval as well as the sting of rejection. The small classes guarantee a lot of personal attention to your writing, which can be good and bad. It is good because professors will take the time to help to make one line of a poem flow in a more smoothly. It can be bad because professors know to what caliber your writing should be and if a piece is weak they will question you about it. Although it is not a very large department in a small college, there is still a high level of competition. It was at Millikin University that I received my first rejection notice for some pieces of writing that I had submitted my freshman year to the Collage. However, it is also at Millikin University that many of my writings have been both well received and praised. The competition is fierce, however, once you do succeed, a writer can take pride in knowing that their piece was worthwhile.

The most important aspects of my writing that I have developed as a writing major at Millikin University was my ability to revise and to take criticism. I had never learned the importance of revising prior to becoming an English major. Often I would just scrap the entire paper or idea and start anew. However, through many creative writing courses and discussions with professors I learned how to decipher what should be kept and what should be thrown away. Revising and being able to hear others change your piece is an integral part of the writing process. At Millikin, the classes are so small that it becomes easier to allow your work to be dissected and reassembled with the help of readers who have gained trust through many semesters of being second readers or third readers. At Millikin, especially in the writing major, it is a very tight circle of well-rounded and skilled writers that embraces each other, but also allows the freedom that all writers crave.

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Buenos dias! I was born in 1981 in Urbana Illinois and was raised in various locations around Champaign County. I graduated from St. Joseph-Ogden High School in 1999 to come to Millikin University as a Psychology major. Yeah. That lasted real long.

My love affair with books began early in my childhood (I could read Dad's old Peanuts comic books before entering Kindergarten) and thrived. Writing didn't became a large part of my life until the elderly age of fourteen. This didn't stop my ambitions, however, of becoming published before I graduated college. With two haiku published and a literary criticism of the poetry of O. Mabson Southard to be published in 2003, my goals have been achieved, just maybe not in the way I had had planned. It has been great to be a double major in literature and writing at Millikin.

I am proud to have been a writing major at Millikin University. The English department boasts both a literary magazine, Collage, and an award winning newspaper—the Decaturian. Also, the department allows its writing majors to specialize in one of three areas: Creative Writing, Journalism, or Professional Writing and Publishing. This allows writing majors to focus on the area that interests them the most as a career path, while taking courses from the other two in order to broaden the student's skills and knowledge.

In these areas of concentration, the student must complete nine credit hours within one of the concentrations of advanced study. Outside of the concentration, the student must complete the writing major core consisting of a publishing course, a writing theory course, and Senior Writing Portfolio, besides the core English Curriculum.

This curriculum allows a writer to become well versed in the canon of literature from England and America, as well as to become experienced in various areas of writing and publishing. Application opportunities are available through internships, Collage, and the Decaturian. The opportunity for application of writing theory in practice is essential to developing a basis of knowledge for a career in writing.

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Hi, I'm Ryan, and thanks for visiting my site. I'm a history major with English writing and Spanish minors. I am also interested in Biology, especially of the prairie, and Philosophy, particularly that of Aesthetics, David Hume, and Friedrich Nietzche. I was born and raised in a small farm town in central Illinois. I enjoy playing the piano, photography, working in my prairie garden, writing, biking, hiking, and swimming.

My objective is to attend gradutate school in English or History and work towards my masters and Ph.D. I would also seek employment in foreign relations, due to my interest in world affairs and my background in history and Spanish. My interests in publication and writing have also led me to seek a career in journalism and publishing.

At Millikin I worked as Peer Tutor in the Writing Center and in the Kirkland Fine Arts box office where I helped write and design publicity for print and web publication. I have been active in the honors program and served as editor and writer for the Decaturian, Collage and Glencoe Project publications.

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The English department at Millikin University provides a comprehensive education. Literature is studied through several lenses—including the theoretical, grammatical, oral, political, and pedagogical facets of literary studies. Classes range from traditional to highly experimental. Through my education, I have learned both the theory and the practice of writing.

Students become familiarized with the literary cannon through classes like 'Major English Authors' and 'Classical Traditions.' There are certain stories that have engaged the imagination of people throughout time, including the Odyssey and Beowulf. These stories informed generations of writers, and I am a better storyteller having read them. I have learned both how to appreciate canonical literature and how to subvert it. Professors acknowledge that the cannon blasted through many cultures, bombarding them with European mores. Contemporary authors are retelling the old stories from different perspectives; Angela Carter's retellings of fairy tales from a feminist perspective is a contemporary example. Through my English classes, I have learned that I, too, have a voice in the old stories.

The Millikin English department also includes political and pedagogical studies. During my freshmen year, I was encouraged to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) at the local community college. There I met with a broad range of people with various cultural perspectives and thinking styles. I was actively engaged in creating new ways of teaching the language, especially for those with different learning styles. This experience informed my knowledge of the writing pedagogy and also made me politically-aware of the problems with ESL and literacy in the United States.

All literature began as the spoken word, and the English department emphasizes the importance of orality. This focus manifests itself both in and out of the classroom. In literature classes, students read selected passages aloud and dramatize scenes from plays; in writing classes, students read their own works. Outside the classroom, the English program reinforces the importance of the spoken word through several reading events. The Writer's Series sponsors professional writers to give readings and workshops on campus. The department, individual professors, and affiliated student organizations also hold several readings throughout the year. Poetry readings foster a sense of community amongst writers and give students the opportunity to share their work with others. The focus on orality is a unique dimension to Millikin, during a time when several writing programs continue to frown on performance.

During my education at Millikin, I have come into my own as a writer. I have gained a strong canonical, theoretical, and pedagogical foundation. I learned much about literature and writing. Drawing on this knowledge, my art has grown more sophisticated-grounded in tradition, but free to experiment.

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I have been a writing major at Millikin University for the past four years. I am from one of the northwestern suburbs (Elmhurst) of Chicago, and graduated from York High School in 1999. I originally came to Millikin hoping to combine writing with structural engineering, but at the end of my sophomore year decided to use writing as a foundation for a career in the business world.

It would not be difficult to argue that I am extremely biased towards such a favorable opinion of the Millikin English writing program simply because I am a student of the university, and on top of that, a writing major myself. However, I have seen what other students study. I have reviewed the classes required to obtain degrees in the math and sciences, arts and history. My high regard for the English program in no way serves to degrade the importance of those majors, but I feel that I made the best possible choice I could have when I opted to study English writing at this university.

For starters, I am a person who strongly believes in strengthening the fundamentals of a skill before moving on to develop another one. I have been a basketball player all my life, and one thing I can remember from my childhood is that I did not dare attempt a free-throw until I had developed the fundamentals required to make a lay-up. Likewise, I do not find it intelligent for a person to be released into the "real" world, whether it be in the business, medicine, scientific, or any other field unless that person has at least a reasonable command of the English language and the ability to exemplify their thoughts and ideas in a clear and logical manner. We cannot overlook the fact that people do go into interviews in today's market and end up sounding like buffoons because they cannot properly communicate with other intelligent people. The reason behind this, in my opinion, spawns directly from a lack of English writing and reading courses throughout a person's academic career.

Millikin University's English writing program provides its students with a solid foundation of reading and writing skills through the study of contemporary and historical works from all sorts of genres and heritages. From the medieval period to the 20th century, students obtain a broad understanding of the different techniques and styles that are used to communicate with others. Even more important than the curriculum, however, is the input received in those small writing classes by both professors and colleagues. Quiet people, (like myself), cannot hide in a class of eight, and eventually you will be forced to share your work—and contrary to popular belief, a work that is produced is never bad a writing class. At the very worst, it has potential. By the end of your academic career at Millikin, if nothing else, you will have developed the courage to share. your work with other people as well as the strength to use critical commentary to your advantage rather than have it discourage you from producing more work.

Most schools do have writing programs, and the majority of universities around the nation are constantly improving programs already implemented. There is a definite need for improved writing skills in the United States. Just recently we took a step in adding a writing section to the GRE (grad school entrance exam). So how does Millikin differ from every other university? First of all, as stated previously, it is very small and allows for in-depth one-on-one contact. Also, the Millikin writing major does not strictly focus on the writing of the student, as many colleges do. At MU, we also study different literatures from the past and that serves only to increase and enhance our capabilities as efficient writers. Constant writing and revision is an absolute necessity for writers, but getting a solid foundation in works that other professionals have already created and revised is something Millikin was not willing to overlook, and that is why its English writing major is so well-organized and efficient.

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My early years were spent cultivating an interest in reading, writing and music. As early as kindergarten, I won contests in writing, including several appearances at the state Young Author's Conference. I also spent these formative years learning piano, viola, and the art of singing. In June 1999, I graduated from Quincy Senior High School with several honors, not the least of which was a spot as a National Merit Finalist. I was also named to the Chicago Tribune All-State Academic List and was saluditorian of my 500-person graduating class.

I am an English Education major at Millikin University in Decatur, IL. My main academic interests lie in educational research, particularly in the research of minority students and education. I completed an honors project studying the high drop-out rates among African-American students in the Decatur Public Schools. I will be attending the University of Illinois in the Fall 2003, seeking a master's degree in Educational Psychology.

Outside of scholarly work, I am interested in music and is a violist, pianist, vibraphonist, and vocalist. I am also interested in writing and literature.

I have taken a deep interest in the education of minority and underpriveleged children. I hope to study the interests of these special students and to recommend changes to the educational system by studying their needs. At the very least, I hope to teach in an urban school and work directly with these students.

In Decatur, I have had the opportunities to volunteer at Dennis School kindergarten class-Fall 1999-2003. At Dennis School, I worked 2 hours a week with a kindergarten classroom throughout my college career. I assisted teacher Robert Winters with his classroom needs and worked directly with students. I also tutored at Boys/Girls Club of Decatur-Fall 1999 and was a weekly tutor at the Decatur Boys/Girls Club my first semester at Millikin. I tutored students seeking GED’s through Project Read-Fall 1999 and tutored high school dropouts seeking their GEDs for approximately 2 hours every week.

I was Features Editor from Spring 2001 to Spring 2003. As features editor of Millikin University's college newspaper, the Decaturian, I coordinated all of the articles, graphics, and layout that go into the features section. I also wrote a consiberable number of articles for each issue. During my tenure as features editor, the Decaturian received numerous awards for layout and writing within the features section, as well as recognition for general excellence overall. For more information on these awards, visit the awards section of this resume. Before becoming a member of the editorial staff, I was a contributor for every single issue of the Decaturian my freshman year. I won awards for my writing and wrote several in-depth features articles.

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My goal is to obtain entrance into a Philosophy graduate and doctoral
program utilizing my experience in undergraduate study and
research, and demonstrating skills in critical writing and thinking.

Honors Scholar

Dean's List:

 • 1999-2000
 • 2000-2001
 • 2001-2002
 • 2002-2003

Presented at the Illinois Philological Association Conference
 • March 2003

Writing Center Peer Tutoring
 • 2001-2003

Planned and conducted writing workshops

Member of the Theo-Socratic Society
 • 2001-2003

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"What do you do?"

"I'm a writer."

"Oh—so what's your real job?

"Writing isn't a real job."

Whoever thinks that hasn't been a Millikin writing major. The English professors at Millikin keep you working day'n night! Essays, poems, short stories, prose fiction, haiku, novels, web-sites, flyers, and anything else they can think of.

In my time at Millikin, I've been asked to write pieces I'd never have thought of creating. One course required students to make brochures for local businesses. For one class, I did a study of the portrayal of vampiric beings in sequential art beginning with Babylon, and ending with 21st century comic books. Another professor inspired me to create a my own book of haiku. A year ago, I invented a language, complete with grammar and syntax, and wrote a beginner's guide to learning it. Between all of my classes, I have written two full-length novels, another book-worth of short stories, and have begun five more novels. I have looked through the eyes of men and women and children and animals; I have been the narrator, the observer, and the omniscient story-teller. I have learned how to lay out novels and children's books. I wrote news articles for a non-profit organization. I have learned how to illustrate my own stories. I know how to bind my own books by hand. I have learned how to critically read and edit my own work, as well as that of others.

When a work calls for knowledge of the Black Plague or Egyptian hieroglyphs or an understanding of language, I know how to research and document the information I need. Whatever writing needs to be done, I have done it, and can do it again. If I survive one more semester in Millikin's writing program, or even if I don't, I'll die happy—writing.

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I am a senior writing major with an emphasis on creative writin,g and I am a music performance minor from Peoria, Ill. I teach and play French horn with various ensembles, and work at the Millikin Quarterly as a staff writer. My favorite writing medium is prose, particularly creative nonfiction. After graduation, I plan to earn my master's degree in journalism, pursue a career in the field, and ultimately establish myself as a creative writer. For my senior writing project, I wrote a collection of fifteen pairs of short stories and sonnets, in which each introductory sonnet clarifies or extends the meaning of subsequent short story.

As a writing major at Millikin, I have not only developed my own personal writing skills, but learned the broader significance of language and literature in general. I have taken classes on literature from around the world and from throughout history. By doing so, I have come to realize the extent of the variety of literature across time and place, and also, the fact that there is no set standard to what qualifies "good" literature.

This has been a liberating realization to me, as a writer. In a non-literature course offered through the music department, I have had the opportunity to apply the theories of the pragmatist American philosopher C.S. Peirce to literature, and through this philosophical bent, experienced a whole new way to view the workings of art. In a class on the French Revolution, I have analyzed contemporary perceptions of the event through a poem written by Coleridge. This project exposed me to the intimate connections between history and literature.

All of these classes have given me a useful context to understand how ideas of literature have evolved and where they may be headed in the future. But I have learned about the impact of language in a more personal sense, through my service learning experience with the ESL program. By teaching others the English language, I have witnessed firsthand how powerful language can be, and how it can change people's lives.

This gradual understanding of the place of words in our world has been, I believe, essential to my growth as a writer. There have also been more direct factors in my education as a writer. When I came to Millikin, I didn't know what kind of writer I wanted to be, but with time, I found my niche. Through a creative writing class, I was introduced to creative nonfiction, and discovered that it was a genre which I enjoyed and in which I excelled. Winning the Conant Award, I built my confidence in my abilities. And in my internship with the Millikin Quarterly, discovered that creative nonfiction has a practical place in magazine writing. From this journey of self-realization at Millikin, I have decided that my writing talents are best suited to journalism in my immediate future, but that with continued practice, I may be able to establish myself as a creative writer in prose.

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I am seeking a career crisis intervention. I have chosen to create an interdepartmental major combining my interests in art, writing and therapy.

I was elected Secretary of Millikin's SAAC (sexual assault awareness counselors) for 2002-2003 term and completed 20 hours of training that all SAAC volunteers are required to complete before becoming a member.
 
I have also volunteered at Homework Hangout helping children from grades 1-7 to strengthen their academic skills, and to make sure they've completed their daily homework correctly.
 
At Richland Community College, I worked as copy editor for the newspaper, The Communicatur and I became Editor-in-chief/Copy-Editor.

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I hail from the mountainous woodlands of Pennsylvania and am a recent transplant to the monotonous landscapes of Illinois. While I enjoyed my educational environment at Millikin University, I look forward to expanding my horizons and traveling in the upcoming months.

My interests lie primarily in language. I have studied both Japanese and Spanish throughout my undergraduate career and wish to further my knowledge. I would like to expand my vocabulary and experience through first hand contact with native languages. However, my ultimate goal is to achieve a M.F.A. in writing and pursue a career in magazine feature writing and/or higher education.

In the fall of 2003 I will begin my graduate studies at Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal.

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I am a writing major from Mt. Zion, Illinois. Currently, working for the Theater Department office. I write all the bios and show programs for the department productions. I also worked as as an intern at the Children's Museum of Illinois in Decatur where I helped with publicity, newsletters and events. If that was not enough, I also worked weekends at the local movie theater where the only perks were the free movies and popcorn.

After graduation, I plan to be employed as a copyeditor or editor's assistant in one of several cities of her choice. My long term goal for myself, professionally, is to be an acquistion editor and eventually have my own small publishing press.

I have had the privilege of comparing my experience as a writing major at Millikin to other universities. I have discovered immediately that my major at Millikin is unique. The basic idea behind being a writing major at Millikin is to, first, get comprehensive knowledge of both writing techniques and literature. Second, a Millikin writing major gets hands-on experience in their chosen field be it creative writing, journalism or professional writing and publishing.

While at Millikin, I have taken almost as many literature courses as writing courses. The idea behind this it that to be a writer one should study other writers' work. The required courses involved many eras in literature from classical to contemporary times. A writing major also has a set core writing classes which include: a computer aided publishing class, a writing theory class and a portfolio class. These classes involve hands-on experience. They teach writing technique and then give the writer the means to professionally display their work. Finally, the portfolio class is the final professional display of the work.

Millikin gives the writer several choices for an emphasis. I have chosen my emphasis to be professional writing and publishing. The courses involved have given me direct access to the software that professionals use and have given me experiences with projects that are equivalent to ones given to interns in publishing. Finally, Millikin required writing majors to take "fun" writing classes that are outside of the area of emphasis. This allows the writer to develop and learn about other styles of writing. While the Millikin writing major experience may be different, it is comprehensive.

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