The Quill #6: AWE News #2

In these quick chats, two graduating English and AWE seniors share what ignited their love of words, how the Applied Writing & English programs shaped them, and where they’re headed next. Dive in and celebrate their journeys!

Rebecca Stewart (pictured right presenting at the 2024 UWGB Academic Excellence Symposium) grew up finding magic, courage, and hope in books when real life felt overwhelming. When it came time to choose a major, it was clear that storytelling, and bringing those stories to others, would be at the center of her path. While she originally entered UW–Green Bay with the goal of becoming a middle or high school English teacher, completing an Education minor and earning licensure to teach ages 11–21 in Wisconsin, her experiences expanded her vision. Now, she aspires to teach at the university level as a teacher-scholar — someone committed both to producing and publishing research and to continuously evolving their teaching practices. Her ultimate goal is to connect people to narratives that offer escape, understanding, and empowerment through both her scholarship and her teaching.

Mentorship played a huge role in Rebecca’s journey. Professors like Dr. Pilmaier and Dr. Nesvet pushed her beyond her insecurities, encouraging her to trust her abilities and pursue opportunities she once thought impossible. Publishing her paper Maid Made Devotee: The Maid-Mistress Trope in Gothic Literature in The Journal of Undergraduate Research in Humanities and presenting at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) were milestones that not only built her confidence but also deepened her love of scholarly work. Experiences like diving into Victorian vampire literature and exploring queer theory helped her find her academic home in nineteenth-century British literature and Gothic studies.

Looking ahead, Rebecca is both thrilled and nervous to begin her English PhD at Loyola University, where she’ll specialize in Nineteenth-Century Studies with a focus on Gothic literature and queer theory. Her advice to new students? “You can do really good work and rest, too.” After facing health challenges brought on by overwork, she’s passionate about reminding others that caring for yourself is essential to success. As she prepares for the next chapter, she knows fear will be part of the process — but, as she says, she’ll just do it scared.

Kimberly Rouse began her college journey as a marketing major, but a Professional Writing course with Dr. Paul Belanger during the pandemic sparked a pivot. Encouraged by “Dr. B” to stay enrolled despite the challenges, she discovered a passion for language that eventually drew her back to UW‑Green Bay as an English major with hopes of becoming a Japanese-English translator after a hiatus spent working full‑time and teaching herself Japanese. That same mentorship introduced her to Sigma Tau Delta and set her on a path of scholarly curiosity that now shapes her graduate school ambitions.

Through editing for Sheepshead Review, writing 50,000 words in Novel Writing Workshop, and diving into cross‑textual analyses (like a metaphysical analysis of Annie Dillard’s Living in Fiction and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek), Kimberly honed the critical thinking skills she sees as essential in an era of AI misinformation. Those experiences propelled her toward graduate research in new media writing, which explores alternative storytelling forms to reach audiences beyond traditional print.

Looking ahead, she’s excited (and a little nervous) to meet new colleagues and pursue questions that may never have final answers, but, she says, that’s the point: “Curiosity is vital to learning. Ask questions, be open to the answers, and remember that sometimes the search matters more than the solution.”