I was drawn to USC for many reasons, but two of the most persuasive were its palpably creative atmosphere and its location right in the nerve center of Los Angeles. Over four years, those reasons have remained sturdy. I have grown tremendously as a writer since I arrived. Coached by our writing faculty and rubbing shoulders with many cool and gifted friends helped considerably with that growth. And I am more or less in love with Los Angeles after living here for four years. There is basically nothing I would rather do than spend an afternoon exploring its urban wilderness. I grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City with farms just a few miles south of my house, so exploring LA still feels new. The move was a huge cultural change, but one I’ve nonetheless felt embraced by.
Literature first grabbed my attention when I was a larva. Apparently, my first word was “book,” which is pretty fortuitous as omens go. Through my childhood and high school, I both wrote and read consistently. Since coming to USC, my time has largely been devoted to “book”-related activities. I was involved with after-school tutoring in Pico-Union for the first three years of college. In this past year, I was President of the student organization Writers in the Community, a group that sponsors a large youth poetry reading twice per school year. My relationship with books has also contained a life-long, dynamic journey through the text of The Bible, which led to my getting involved withCampus Crusade for Christ at USC for three years. I also have been a part of theThematic Option Honors Program and USC’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Assembly—while I have on occasion kissed good books, I prefer boys.
Recently, I completed my English Senior Honors Thesis. Supervised by Professors Dana Johnson and Aimee Bender, it is titled “Whatever You Called It: The Fetus as Destabilizer in Twentieth Century Literature of Abortion” (critical component) and “This” (creative component). Over the summer of my junior year, I also did research with English Professor Vicki Forman on “Religious Conversion/Apostasy during Adult Life”. I am delighted to receive the Jimmy Gaunt scholarship, because never in my life has a scholarship meant more to me. Now that school is complete, I want to explore. To explore LA, the country, maybe the greater world if I feel cheeky enough. It’s time to wander, not as to avoid work but to seek out new ways to be a citizen of the earth and to mark that down in words. I’m so excited I often can’t even feel it.
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