K: Jill, you had the opportunity to wear so many different hats throughout your time on the Spectrum. From being a contributing writer, to the manager of Perspectives and now the manager of Audrey’s Corner, which role was your favorite?
J: It was definitely a lot of fun to do so many different things! I think there were a lot of good parts to everything for me. Writing for Features really got me into news writing and it was super interesting to go around and talk to different kinds of people about things they were passionate about. Then I became the manager of Perspectives which was great cause I got to give the opportunity that I had to others. Obviously my last role has been my favorite. I love Audrey’s Corner with all my heart because of how much good it represents and because of my own love for creative writing. Kailey, as someone who has been managing Audrey’s Corner for two years what has it been like to see the section grow?
K: It has been so rewarding to see Audrey’s Corner grow these past few years. I am so grateful to both The Spectrum Board and the Niblo family for believing in my vision for Audrey’s Corner and giving me so much creative freedom. I hope that the next manager for Audrey’s Corner continues our traditions and makes some new ones of their own! What are you going to miss most about your time as a student at Sacred Heart?
J: I feel like an easier question at this point is what aren’t I going to miss. I’m going to miss walking around campus and being less than five minutes away from my friends all the time. I’m going to miss writing for the Spectrum. I’m going to miss going to class (that must sound so nerdy but it’s true). I think the thing I’m going to miss the most out of everything is the community here. I’ve grown so close to friends and faculty here that I don’t know what I’m going to do without seeing them every day.
J: You’ve done quite a lot of work in the health and humanities field, from writing about disabilities to working with Prof. Hulme in her health and humanities course and now to writing about Long Lane Academy that was in Connecticut. What has been like to write and help promote this content and do you have a favorite piece you have written in the health and humanities field?
K: I have loved working and writing for the Health Humanities field. I especially love how broad the writing community is in this field. I have been able to publish public facing articles about disability studies and activism, as well as read academic essays at conferences about the sexist and ableist treatment entrenched within our medical culture. I think my favorite piece of writing, though, is the current novel I am working on about Long Lane.
K: As both a Media Arts major, an English major, a writing minor and an honors minor, you have kept very busy over the last four years. You’ve also been a part of so many SHU extracurriculars like choir, english club and most recently Rocky Horror Picture Show. I swear you had to have stolen Hermonie Granger’s Time Turner to do it all. What has been the most rewarding Sacred Heart program?
J: Yeah, I’ve definitely bounced around a lot in my four years. I really like learning and trying new things and Sacred Heart has been really great for all of that. I think I’m caught between my two majors with the question though. I came in already knowing a lot about writing and so with the Media Department I’ve been able to learn a lot more about broadcast and media and all of it has become incredibly interesting (I just read So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson (so good)). On the other hand I have been practically living out of the English Department ever since I got here. I like to think that everyone there is close enough to be family. Some of the professors have been really nice and sweet and have gone out of their way to make sure I’m doing well. I have tried my best to do the same for all of the students in the department who are younger and it’s cool to see them all grow and develop in similar and different ways than I have.
J: You’ve done so much for the English department especially and even won the gold award for English. What has it been like being honored like that and going back to a question you asked me before, what do you think you are going to miss the most?
K: I am so honored to have received the gold award for English. I think that sometimes I can get caught up in all the goals I have yet to accomplish and winning this award really gave me the opportunity to step back and assess how much I have grown as both a person and a writer, while attending Sacred Heart. At the end of the day though, there is so much more I am grateful for and am going to miss about Sacred Heart. Like you, I will miss the community we have shared. It is going to be difficult not seeing my best friends at English Club every Tuesday night. I also am going to miss all of my classes and professors who have made such an impact on who I have become. I already know I am going to look back on these years as some of the best of my life and although I am sad to be leaving Sacred Heart, I am mostly grateful to have found a home among my fellow pioneers.
