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Student Profile: McKenzie Burkard

Student Spotlight: McKenzie Burkard

What do you Love about your major?

I love how the English major offers opportunities to engage creatively with a wide variety of materials, ranging from novels to songs, poems, pastiches, short stories, essays, and more. This variety, openness of interpretation, and the possibilities for discussion with my peers make my major exciting and fulfilling.
 

Where do you call Home?

Bainbridge Island, WA

What do you study? What is your area of interest? Why did you choose this?

I'm an English Major, and Education, Learning & Society Minor. I chose this area of study because I have a love for literary analysis and I’m hoping to teach High School English!

Where is your favorite place to study on campus?

If this counts - when it’s nice out, my favorite place to study on campus is probably Fritz Hedges Waterway Park. The sunsets there can be beautiful, and the rocky beach is super calming when I’m trying to study!
 

What is one of many Humanities courses you recommend?

I really enjoyed taking ENGL 333 A (Nineteenth Century Novel) Moby Dick vs Middlemarch with Professor Jesse Oak Taylor. The premise of the class was really interesting, reading these two books at the same time and comparing them, and I loved the opportunity to do a creative project at the end!
 

What has been an unforgettable experience during your time at the UW thus far?

While I can’t necessarily think of one experience that would fit for this prompt, I know that after my time at UW I’ll remember the wide range of interesting classes I was able to take, the friends that I made here, my incredible internship experience through UW’s Undergraduate Community Based Internship program, and the ways that I became so much more familiar with the Seattle area (having grown up here)! 

How have you used humanities academic services advising while on your journey? I’ve used the Humanities Academic Services office to make sure I’m on the right track to graduate through one-on-one appointments with advisors. As I’m navigating the endorsement process for English teaching, the Humanities Academic Services office has been a big help in making the process clearer!

What advice would you give to a new student in the humanities? "To new students in the humanities, the advice I would give would be to spend time really looking through course descriptions and try to take what sounds both interesting and unique to you. I’d also say that participating in classroom discussions, while often intimidating, can ultimately be very rewarding and I’ve found it gets easier over the course of the quarter."

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Student Profile: Amelia Osssorio

What do you Love about your major?

I love the tight-knit community in the Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures Department and the mentorship I’ve received from my peers and faculty. There are so many opportunities in MELC for support and networking, as well as fellow passionate language students with a range of interests and areas of research!