Mary Katherine Arnold
writing

Aaron Bynum
writing

Michael Cummings
writing & literature

George Fear
English Education

Deirdre Fields
writing & literature

Ryan Hosler
writing

Leah Hurt
literature

Alyssa Owens
writing

Jesse Phillippe
writing

Daniel Thomas Richards
writing

Justin Rosenberg
writing

Katie Schmid
writing

Bethany Tabb
writing

Molly Tretter
English Education

Matt Wheeler
writing

Stephanie Williams
writing

Michael Cummings

What are your plans for the next year and the future?
I'm getting married in June to another English dork, Molly Tretter. We are in the employment hunt, like many others, and holding steadfastly to the belief that life will work out.

What did you like best about English studies at Millikin?
The greatest part about English studies was having variety in my reading diet. Taking multiple classes at the same time caused their material to intermingle, deepening my appreciation for all of the ideas I was being exposed to.

Who are your favorite authors?
Prose: Herman Melville, John Steinbeck, Wallace Stegner, Don DeLillo. Poets: James Wright, David Levine, Rilke, E.E. (e.e., ee, etc.) C(c)ummings

What do you like to write?
I like to write non-fiction and short stories, and I keep a journal. I was more into English for the reading, though.

Daniel Richards

Daniel T. Richards graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Writing from Millikin University in May 2007. In the fall of 2007, he will serve as a teaching assistant at Clemson University where he will pursue a Master of Arts in Professional Communication. Daniel’s research interests include visual rhetoric in animated media, alternative pedagogies and the role of media in contemporary America.

While at Millikin, Daniel served as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the campus newspaper, the Decaturian, Fraternity Education Officer for Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and as a Presidential Scholar. Additionally, he participated in MENC, University Choir and the a cappella quartet Second String.

What are your plans for the next year and the future?

I will attend Clemson University to pursue a Master of Arts in Professional Communication.

What did you like best about English studies at Millikin?

Innovative and caring professors make my English experience interesting and rewarding. In class, English professors took the time to create interesting and unique assignments that not only kept my attention but also concretized important concepts. Additionally, the professors genuinely cared about my academic and personal health even outside of class.

Who are your favorite authors?

William Faulkner, Willa Cather, Ayn Rand and Dave Barry

What do you like to write?

I enjoy writing satire, especially satire that people mistake for serious commentary.

What is your advice for future English majors?

Make your own opportunities. Professors are willing to enhance your education if you're willing to take the initiative.

Molly Tretter

My degree from Millikin is in Secondary English Education with a middle level endorsement. I have two cats (Cally and Pépe), and my favorite time to pick my nose is when driving my Saturn S-series.

What are your plans for the next year and the future?
I am marrying Michael Cummings (another Millikin English enthusiast) on June 16, 2007. I’m hoping to get a teaching job before then, but we are also considering teaching English as a foreign language in another country before we get too settled down.

What did you like best about English studies at Millikin?
Although it wasn’t required for my major, I really enjoyed the Sequence Writing class I took with Dr. Frech. The class helped me to write in ways I had never considered before, and we read some awesome books and poems. I also really enjoyed the variety of English content available at Millikin. Many teachers have different interests and subjects they choose to teach, so if you take different teachers you get such a broad knowledge of literature.

Who are your favorite authors?
John Steinbeck, David Sedaris, Amy Sedaris, Mark Twain, and Stephen King (totally a guilty pleasure)

What do you like to write?
I like to write poetry about small town life and the German community in southern Indiana where I grew up. I also like to write about families, especially my own.

What is your advice for future English majors?
1. Take advantage of what your professors have to offer. They’re all great teachers and friends.
2. Read everything they assign to you; it will make everyone’s lives easier.
3. A double thickness of paper towels makes a quick replacement for coffee filters when you accidentally run short during those late-night paper writing sessions.

Aaron H. Bynum

What are your plans for the next year and the future?
My objective and goal is to obtain full-time employment where I can make the greatest and use of my skills and interests in writing and critical research.

What did you like best about English studies at Millikin?

The best part of the Enligh Studies at Millikin University is the fact that regardless of what Major within the Department one chooses, or of what concentration one chooses within said major, the courses are wonderfully synchronized yet diverse so as to allow students to tap their creative interests in the poetics, critical research and research methodoloy, classic literature and much more all simultaneously. The English Studies are far from funneling student interests, whereas they allow English Majors to follow their innovation and to follow their skill sets into and through any and every subject matter relevant to their English interests.

Who are your favorite authors?
Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson & Plato

What do you like to write?
Research essays and critical analysis of interests such as; animation, filmmaking and canonical literature.

What is your advice for future English majors?
Writing is more than a form of communication... it is a way of perceiving, analyzing and understanding the world around us. The world as it was, the world as it currently happens to be, and most importantly, the world as we fear it may become. It is with this in mind that you must know and believe that what you conceive through pen and paper is a pure and exacting representation of who you are and of the experiences you have weathered.