English Department: Student Comments


Rosario Gomez	ROSARIO GOMEZ I was a computer engineer for three years before I realized that I did not want to code for the rest of my life. I had done a few technical writing interns through that time and wanted to see if I can go in that direction with my studies. It wasn’t until one summer day, while I was at work, that I finally got enough courage to walk over to the English department and ask questions about changing my major. I had had a very difficult time with the college of engineering and expected other colleges to be the same way.
I walked in feeling completely lost and asked the person at the front desk to see I could get information on what being an English major was about and how difficult it would be. She immediately directed me towards the Assistant Chair who brought me into her office and started talking. Dr. Rummell sat down with me and found out what my likes and dislikes were, where I could go with my degree in English, and how I could fit into the English community. I was sold as soon as I sat down with her. She saved me a space in English 251 for the following quarter and that was the beginning of my English career. My studies have taken me to a lot of places since then. I love my medieval studies classes since I do that on my spare time. I have been able to get in contact with world famous Iberian Medievalists. I have done a lot of research on the topic and hope to continue with my Ph.D. on the topic. I have also expanded on my technical writing and focus a lot more on interactive documentation. I still write manuals, but I also work on web pages to guide the viewers through the event, rather then letting them have a static meeting with a dull site. I plan on continuing my studies in technical writing, as well. The one thing that I really, really love about the English department is that I feel like a person. The professors know me and interact with me, instead of seeing me as a number on their grading sheet. I have conversations with my professors and talk with them about non-class material. To me, having the professor acknowledge me as an individual has made my stay here worthwhile. The English department has the best professors in this university and provides the most thought inducing classes I have ever had, and I’ve taken classes on calculus, physics, and circuitry. They also hold great events that you can attend and interact with other English majors. They also provide countless number of events in which you can get involved and become part of the English community. I would highly recommend you do since it allows you to make the most of your stay at Cal Poly. With that I’ll let you enjoy and think about how great it is/would be to be an English major.
Kate Asche	KATE ASCHE I don’t really know why, exactly, I came to Cal Poly. Maybe because I camped with my family at Pismo when I was younger, and had good memories of the area. Or maybe because I was part of Cal Poly’s Festival Wind Orchestra my junior year in high school, and I felt familiar with the place through that. Whatever the reasons, Cal Poly has definitely been, and continues to be, the place for me. Everybody stresses Poly’s small class sizes—and, truly, size does matter! My favorite part of being a Cal Poly English Major is that I have had meaningful
conversations with nearly all of my profs. I’ve shared meals with many of them. There are even several who open their homes up to students on a regular basis. For me, these out-of-lecture meetings help to reinforce and expand lecture material, and they spur me on to more meaningful readings of the texts as well as a higher level of craftsmanship in my writing classes. These skills are proving invaluable to me as I enter the world of graduate study. However, it’s not only what goes on inside the English building that makes Poly a great school, but what goes on outside, as well. The English Department works diligently to bring world-class writers to our campus. As a poet, I am especially thankful for an evening last spring, during which I not only attended a reading by poet Adrienne Rich, but also spent a good deal of time chatting candidly with her about our craft. Cal Poly also has its own creative writing yearly, Byzantium, which is the first place my friends and I saw our names in print. An additional aspect of the English program at Cal Poly that I love is the amazing amount of elective units we English Majors are given! I think this flexibility is an important aspect of any liberal arts degree. Because the Cal Poly English Major tailors itself so well to its students, I have been able to complete not only my degree (with a Creative Writing emphasis), but also a minor in music performance, in addition to cultivating my satellite interests in art history, photography, astronomy, and world culture… …Which brings me to a program only slightly tangent to the Cal Poly English Department: Cal Poly’s London Study Program! I highly recommend a study-abroad experience for every college student. For me, London Study was the perfect balance between Cal Poly structure and international adventure. Soaking up the pubs, plays, and people of London, traveling Britain extensively, touring the Continent for over six weeks in addition… I cannot begin to describe the degree to which my historical and literary understanding deepened. Honestly! And experiencing the culture of another country over an extended period of time really broadened my perspective on both my own country and myself as an individual in society. A thought in closing… there are a lot of great schools out there. Poly is one of them. If you’re looking for committed faculty, an involved peer group, and a department dedicated to your success—not to mention an awesome place to live!!—then Cal Poly is probably a great place to start. Good luck!
Elizabeth Meissner	ELIZABETH MEISSNER I love the English language and literature, which is why I’m an English major at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. It may sound a bit odd—an English major at a polytechnic school known for engineering, business, and agriculture—but the truth is that few outsiders know how superb the English Department at Poly is. After finishing high school, I enrolled at a U.C. school with a reputation for an excellent English program. At the last minute, I changed my mind and came to
Poly where I was pleasantly surprised with the English Department. I have learned a lot from the diverse array of enthusiastic and friendly professors who have challenged and guided me. As you are sure to hear from at least one of your professors here, a degree in English is an invaluable education. Literature does not specialize in any one facet of knowledge; it instructs in life. One of my most awesome life experiences was studying English abroad in St. Andrews, Scotland during my sophomore year. I looked into all the programs that were pre-arranged by Poly, but decided that I wanted to do something a bit different. Since the University of St. Andrews does not have a study abroad program linked directly with Cal Poly, I had to register as a yearlong guest at another California university and apply to St. Andrews through a university in Nevada. Whew! I had no idea how much trouble it would be to get there! Then the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th occurred two days before my scheduled flight. On the 13th, when I was supposed to leave the U.S., LAX was still closed. A week later, I finally made it over on a re-arranged and significantly longer journey. I had never before been out of the country. I learned a lot in Scotland—not just about the gamut of British and European literature, medieval Scottish history, and anthropology—but also about life. I made some awesome international friends; worked in a bed & breakfast; and was able to experience a year of the European educational system, which is much different than ours. It was a lot of work and a big loan to get there, but the experience was absolutely worth it. If I could do it all over again, I would! It has changed my perspective on life and education. I recommend studying abroad for anyone and everyone. It is such a worthwhile experience to be immersed in another culture—there’s nothing like it! My first year at Cal Poly prepared me for university life in Scotland. My British professors warned us that Americans would probably have a hard time doing well in the European educational system, but I did just fine. I really felt the value of my first year of English classes at Cal Poly. The English professors both at Poly and St. Andrews have shaped me into a critical thinker, questioning reader, and better writer.
Garrett Milner	GARRETT MILNER I like reading, and I like writing, but 'rithmetic has never been my thing; the obvious path then was English. English is education at its essence; when you strip away all the products of science and progress, you're left with a group of people in loin-cloths around the fire, listening to the storyteller, being comforted, or instructed, or inspired. What I like about English: the creative aspect, both that of the authors we read and my own; the tradition and history of an ancient art form; and the primary subject, humanity and all of its hardships, hijinks, and heart. Like old Bill Faulkner said, the source of great writing
is simply the human heart in conflict with itself. Or like Bill Yeats said, if you want something to write about, the place to go is "the foul rag and bone shop of the heart." Some people shy away when the going gets heavy, but I always thought that the moment when a writer takes on the big ideas was the time to listen most closely; it doesn't matter if the thing is funny, or sad, or a little of both, as long as the author is pouring his guts out and we can see ourselves in the results. I am an English major because although it revolves around reading a bunch of made-up stories by dead people, it seems to me that I'm studying the most important stuff there is about what this life is and how to live it.
JENNIFER HAYES Many of my high school friends found it quite odd that I willingly chose a polytechnic university over the more traditional liberal arts schools as the place to cultivate my love of literature. I was accepted by, and could easily have gone to, one of those schools, but two factors quickly made Cal Poly my first choice—the friendly atmosphere and the professors. I have yet to encounter an English professor who did not sincerely want you to visit them during their office hours. The professors are not only immensely knowledgeable about a myriad of English-related subjects, but they continually make themselves readily available to their students, often going well beyond the call of duty.	Jennifer Hayes
Furthermore, the English core curriculum is structured so as to help facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the various literary movements while simultaneously promoting the development of a tightly-knit community of students. It is quite a relief to walk into a classroom where I am already friends with, or at least acquainted with, over half of the class. The professors have always helped create a relaxed environment where ideas are readily exchanged and the focus is generally on discussion, which is my favorite aspect of literature. In fact, I have just recently had a barbeque at my house with some of my professors and fellow classmates, an experience that would not even be an option for me had I chosen one of those so-called liberal arts schools. At Cal Poly, I am not just a nameless face in the crowd, but rather, my professors actually know me on a first name basis and have taken the time to learn more about me.
Lindsey Hayes	LINDSEY HAYES How many times have you honestly felt that you freely chose the direction in which your life was heading? Does it seem that you often make life-altering decisions based on chance circumstances rather than personal preference? Was your choice of study based upon financial security rather than a deep desire to study something? Are you where you really want to be? I think I am. Returning to school after years of absence, I felt happy. I could choose exactly where I wished my life to go, even though it was a large step away from what I had known. Before then, I’d had a well-paying job complete with banker’s hours. My daughter was getting older and we enjoyed pleasant evenings together. But here I was,
giving all that up to go back to school where I would strain to cram my head full of information and write papers on subjects I knew little about. In the evenings, instead of resting from work, I would be completing school projects and struggling to give enough attention to my child. What was I thinking? Here’s what I was thinking: Hooray!! For several years, I worked at a job that, though somewhat interesting, was ultimately unsatisfying. And instead of boring meetings that featured endless talk about mundane subjects, I wanted to fill my days with my two great loves: music and English. Those were the subjects that fulfilled me, not discussions on trends in tourism and marketing. Coming back to school made studying them possible, but I was still faced with a choice between them. Choosing between the music and English programs proved difficult, and so, swallowing the thought of the extra expense, I chose to study both subjects. Thank God I did. Working in two different departments has broadened me considerably, and I never would have gained as much as I have without choosing to double-major. Both the Cal Poly Music and English programs provide special challenges and benefits that complement each other. From the music program, I learned much about myself as a performer and a student. I was challenged continuously from the moment I began the program until the performance of my senior recital (the equivalent of a senior project) last May. No slouches at scholarship, my music professors demanded both excellent research and superior writing, which became extremely helpful in my studies in English. I also felt a great sense of community; students and professors are on a first-name basis and work together often. There is very little sense of competition between students; instead, they will encourage each other and offer help on a regular basis. In the final phase of my music studies, I began to focus more attention on my English degree. As I immersed myself more into the English program, I was apprehensive about the level of community that I would find. After all, the English department was much larger than music. Surely the English professors didn’t have the time to spend much energy on their students. To my relief, that fear was completely unfounded. Large department notwithstanding, I found a level of commitment to students that astounded me. Each professor seemed eager to provide help and guidance to any student who requested it. In addition, I was delighted to discover that the English Core series roughly parallels a series of music history classes required for the music degree. I sometimes felt almost a step ahead of a Core lecture because of my general familiarity with the different time periods and trends. And my awareness of the musical atmosphere of those periods gave the lectures an added richness that that would have been missing without my music studies. But none of this is surprising to me. I feel that the connection between music and English is unmistakable – these two disciplines seem to spring from very similar wells of creativity and philosophy. I feel so very lucky to drink from these wells every day. Double-majoring is not the easiest route to take, and yes, it costs much more money and time. But I made this decision long ago. This is what I want from my life. I could easily focus on one area and make a successful career from it, but I choose to not box myself in – I feel that I can only be fulfilled by being actively involved in both subjects. I am thankful to each of the professors I have encountered in both departments. I feel encouraged and accepted by them all. My conscious choice to return to school, and simultaneously study English and music, has been one of the most rewarding decisions of my life. I truly feel that I am where I want to be.