According to Anna Gramling, the community she has found in her English and writing classes is an aspect of college she will miss the most.
“There is nothing I am going to miss more than walking into Tribble [Hall] and sitting with these people talking about the books we are reading,” Gramling said.
As an English major and creative writing minor, Gramling has spent a lot of her four years at Wake Forest in Tribble Hall. She said that English classes ask her and her peers to “bring yourself to the table,” which inspires vulnerability.
“I feel like I create such close relationships in my English classes because you reveal so much of yourself when you unpack books,” Gramling said.
The vulnerability and community that Gramling describes lead her to explain that, while the English major has taught her how to improve her writing skills, it has more importantly challenged her to think and the different perspectives that people bring to the world.
“I don’t think I’m going to use this major to talk about Jane Austen,” Gramling said. “I think that it teaches you how to express yourself, how to communicate concisely and how to look at something from every angle that you could possibly look at it from. I feel that, if anything, it has taught me a lot about people.”
Although Gramling grew up reading and developed a love of writing through writing mystery novels in her journal, she did not begin her college career thinking she could turn her passion into a practical career.
However, after spending a summer studying literature in London, England with Professor Joanna Ruocco, Gramling returned to campus for her junior year pursuing an English major and double minor in creative writing and psychology. According to Gramling, Ruocco encouraged her to continue writing and consider making it a focal point of her degree.
“Having a professor that I respect say ‘you should do this; I think you can do this and it’ll be fine’ changed the whole structure of college for me,” Gramling said.
Since that summer, Gramling has not stopped taking classes with Ruocco, who is currently working with her as a thesis advisor. Laughing, Gramling explained the premise of her creative honors project, which is set in Cornwall, England — one of the sites she visited while abroad.
After pursuing a creative honors thesis in English and spending her undergraduate career honing her writing skills, Gramling knows she wants to be a writer. She hopes to work in publishing and eventually pursue a master’s in fine arts (MFA). Gramling is excited to work towards these goals, and she said that she feels “settled” with the idea of leaving Wake Forest after four years.
“You have four years, and I’m happy with the people that I spent them with and the way that I spent [these years with],” Gramling said. “So I don’t have any regrets.”
She continued: “The English major has a very close place to my heart. I feel that I would always encourage people to take English classes because the department is small but fierce.”
