It was 6 p.m. and I finally got my lunch break after opening a fast fashion retail store on a weekday at Belden Village Mall. Working on a short-staffed team as a manager at 21 years old has its perks when you have minimal bills and grown-up money. But sitting down for the first time after working 10 hours knowing you still have four more hours left, was pretty discouraging.
Sure, I loved retail but I'm a creative writer. I sat down in the food court and wrote a dramatic poem about how much I hated my job. I glanced up at the ruckus being made by four guys hanging a new banner across the skylight in the ceiling.
"You belong here", it read.
It was an advertisement for my hometown university. I had been thinking about enrolling for a long time, even if I didn't know what I'd do with my English degree. I was just curious about the potential writing classes I'd get the opportunity to participate in. I know you're probably assuming I went straight home and enrolled that night, but that's just not true. I went home and fell asleep fully dressed on my parents' couch because I had just finished working a six-day workweek. But rest assured, I woke up the next morning and applied to 性福五月天 University at Stark.
I started part-time, truly because I didn't even think I'd graduate. I have dyscalculia and according to the KSU English major GPS, I was required to take a five-credit hour math course. So, I immaturely planned to soak up all the creative writing knowledge I could and then drop out.
What I didn't expect was to start working as a tutor in the Writing Center. This is where I met so many like-minded writers and realized that maybe I did belong here.
I took a pay cut shifting from a 40-hour manager salary to a part-time writing tutor paycheck, but let me tell you even though my legs still felt like they were going to fall off at the end of the day, I at least felt satisfaction for progress made towards the career I've dreamt about since I was six years old.
Fast forward a couple of months, and it was a Thursday in October around 9 a.m., and I was so very blessed to be looking out of the large stretch of windows that lined the KSU Stark Writing Center walls. I sipped my coffee and gazed at the fuchsia sunrise over the fall foliage that could be seen from all over campus.
Suddenly, I was torn away from the scenery by a knock on the door. I turned around to see a smiling Dr. Mary Rooks with a stack of flyers in her hand. "I figured this would be a great place for these study abroad flyers", she said, placing the stack of papers in the center of one of the round tables. I had no idea that this small moment in my college career was going to be the DeLorean Time Machine that would place me in the streets of London, only as little as eight months later.
I come from a poor family so leaving the country seemed very unobtainable for somebody like me. With the help of scholarships, generous donors and the guidance of Dr. Ann Martinez, I worked out the funds to follow my Medieval English class to London, then to Shakespeare's hometown, all the way to Stonehenge. I wrote in my travel journal every day of the trip and even created a 25-minute-long travel video blog.
I didn't even know what studying abroad would do for me when all I wanted to do was write poetry.
But I'm so grateful that my amazing English professors took my hand and showed me that there is way more to an English degree than just a few creative writing courses.
I returned to KSU Stark that fall as a seasoned traveler, a Shakespeare fiend, an English club member, a Creative Writing club officer and a member of Stark's chapter of the English Honor Society, Sigma Tau Delta.
I had many moments where I imagined what life would've been like had I continued opening and closing that retail store that drained me of all my energy. DO NOT GET ME WRONG, I actively use my managerial experience on my resume. But that, combined with my experiences at KSU, has helped me significantly stand out for jobs. In the Spring of 2024, I landed an associate student representative role for Sigma Tau Delta on an international scale. I'm one of two students who represent the entire east coast of Sigma Tau Delta.
I continued traveling abroad and managed to follow Dr. Martinez to England for a second time, then to Scotland and then to Iceland.
College has taken me a hot second to complete as I did start part-time and took a couple of semesters off in between. After seven years of studying at KSU Stark (it is what it is), I'll have my B.A. in English with a minor in creative writing in the Spring of 2026. My hometown university allowed me the flexibility I needed to navigate most of my 20s while pushing me out of my comfort zone and giving me top-tier experiences.
I wouldn't trade this journey for the world, and I'm already planning to squeeze in as much as possible for my last year at KSU Stark.
If you need a banner hanging over the skylight of Belden Village Mall, let my story be that for you. Enroll. Even if you have no idea if you'll finish, enroll. Because how dare I ever ask the question, "What will I do with my English degree?". I found out. I traveled the world, I've read my poetry in front of audiences, I've laughed, I've cried with students and professors alike, I dropped out, I came back, I've interned, I've written blog posts, and I experienced. Enroll.