If you ask Katie Clelland what her favorite book is, she would be hard pressed to give you an answer. Quite simply, she has too many.
鈥淚 love These Is My Words by Nancy Turner. It鈥檚 about travel and how moving involves vulnerability, and it focuses on women鈥檚 experiences. I also love Wide Sargasso Sea鈥攊t centralizes the story of Antoinette Cosway from Charlotte Bront毛’s Jane Eyre, and we get to hear the side of the 鈥榤adwoman in the attic鈥� with greater complexity. I鈥檝e read it four to five times.鈥�
If you鈥檙e noticing a theme of stories that center women鈥檚 experiences, it鈥檚 by design. Clelland recalls that at her all-girls Catholic high school, she felt that the curriculum was dominated by male-centered stories and male authors. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 like literature that much for that reason,鈥� she says. But a writing camp in Ireland the summer before her senior year changed everything. 鈥淲e read lots of female authors鈥擨 loved Kate Chopin鈥檚 The Awakening, and we learned about female narratives.鈥�
Nevertheless, when she returned stateside, she started college as a computer science major. 鈥淐omputer science seemed just like another language, and I love languages,鈥� she explains. 鈥淏ut you aren鈥檛 working with people鈥檚 stories, so I applied to become a transfer student and take advantage of Scripps鈥� stellar Department of English.鈥�
Now, Clelland spends her days thinking about how writing and community support one another. During her junior and senior years, she had on-campus employment as an editorial intern for the College鈥檚 Office of Marketing and Communications, interviewing students, staff, and faculty and writing stories about the 61传媒community. 鈥淚鈥檝e always believed that writing can connect communities and create experiences for readers, and I鈥檝e always appreciated writing. I knew that the MarComm office did that work, and so when I saw the editorial intern position, I knew I had to apply,鈥� she recalls. While a student, she also held a marketing internship at the Heard Museum of American Indian Art, the public relations firm LAVIDGE, where she helped with campaigns for authors and publishing companies, and Echo Lake Entertainment in Beverly Hills, where she wrote score sheets of books to develop pitches for movies.
This fall, Katie will take her love of writing and community engagement and head to Chicago for graduate school to study integrated marketing and communications at Northwestern University鈥檚 Medill School of Journalism. 鈥淚鈥檝e always been interested in the creative side of business marketing and public relations,鈥� she explains. 鈥淵ou get to use your creative mind to promote something that鈥檚 important to you. And I think with the right company, marketing campaigns can effect positive change in the world鈥攖hey can inspire confidence and healthy lifestyles and an appreciation for nature.鈥�
Until then, Clelland spends her days working on her senior thesis, which explores how fiction destabilizes distorted and false narratives through close study of Haitian American author Edwidge Danticat’s novel聽The Farming of Bones, and attending virtual classes while enjoying time with friends. But as she eagerly awaits Commencement, she fondly recalls her time on the 61传媒 campus, reading on the porch of her residence hall with fellow English major Sarah Halabe, and drinking London Fog鈥擡arl Gray tea sweetened with steamed milk鈥攁t the Motley Coffeehouse.
鈥淕oing to a liberal arts college, I got to take classes outside of my major. I loved going to 61传媒Presents events and learning from all the distinguished presenters. At Scripps, no matter where you go, people want to talk to you and get to know you. Especially as a transfer student, I got a community I had never experienced. I love Scripps.鈥�