Liza Flandreau is a sophomore English major pursuing specializations in Teaching English Language Arts (TELA), the Study and Practice of Writing (SPOW), and Creative Writing. She is the self-published author of a poetry book, That’s (not) All She Wrote. Liza intends to pursue a career in secondary education, and has a psychology minor in addition to her major and specializations.
Why did you choose a major in English?
I decided I wanted to be an English major back in my sophomore year of high school. It was really clear to me that I wanted to teach. English always came easy to me, but it also generated a lot of interest. I wanted a strong foundation to go on to teach English at the secondary level.
What sparked your interest in teaching English?
I love working alongside kids to help them succeed, but I decided on secondary English after having so many wonderful high school teachers. I also was blessed to have an opportunity to intern for an 8th grade English class my senior year of high school, which really solidified that teaching is my passion.
You mentioned you’ve written a book, can you tell me a little bit about that?
It’s a poetry book, titled That’s (not) All She Wrote. I was sexually abused throughout my childhood, and I wrote poetry throughout those years as well as during my healing. At the beginning of this year I decided I wanted to share my story. The book is essentially two halves, the first half being pretty dark, while the second half is intended to inspire readers who may be experiencing something similar. It was published in April 2021, and I self-published. Once I wrapped my mind around actually publishing it, it only took about a week to pull it all together.
As far as that process goes, it was definitely an interesting experience being my own PR Rep. I did some book launches in my hometown but haven’t gotten to do any promo at school yet, but I would like to. Publishing through Amazon was honestly a pretty self-explanatory process, and didn’t take that long to put it all together. It was really just about following the directions and then taking whatever artistic liberties I wanted. Once I had all the poems I wanted to include and had them in order, it took a day to put them into the template, and then it was just about making sure everything looked appealing.
Are you involved in any extracurricular activities at UMass?
I’m the secretary for Cru at UMass, a Christian organization. Balancing an officer position while having a heavy academic load is definitely a challenge, but I think the most important thing to remember is that school comes first, no matter what. Keeping a detailed daily schedule is also really helpful when trying to make sure that everything gets done. To me, Cru is a way to stay involved with a Christian community while being away from my home church and friends. I have made some of my best friends through Cru, and I couldn’t imagine being at school without it.
You’re pursuing multiple specializations, can you speak about those and your experiences with each specialization?
I’m pursuing three specializations, Teaching English Language Arts (TELA), the Study and Practice of Writing (SPOW), and a Creative Writing specialization. I decided to pursue different specializations because English is so broad, and specializations allow me to home in on different skills and areas that I want to bring into my future classroom. I get to work on teaching and take classes that have a focus on that. I feel like my specialization classes are really productive for me.
I also have a psychology minor. I chose that because it goes along well with education and I’m interested in the mental health and developmental aspects of psych.
Who is your favorite author?
My favorite poet right now is Caroline Kaufman; I really like her collections. My favorite author is probably Mitch Album. I’ve read all of his books, mostly in high school, but I think I can say he is still my favorite.
What has been your favorite English class so far?
I’m taking English 341: Autobiography Studies and that has been really great so far. We do a lot of memoir work which I really like. This class has helped me dive into a genre that is often left out of classic curriculums, which broadens what I will be able to teach in the future. I also loved English 221, which is a Shakespeare course. I took that with Adam Zucker and John Yargo, and they were great. I wouldn’t have been able to comprehend Shakespeare on my own before, but now I feel that I can.
Are there any on campus resources that you’ve found to be helpful so far?
I spend a lot of time in the library; I love going to study there. I’ve spent most of my time there in the basement, because the rest of it was locked down last year.
Do you have any advice for students thinking about a major in English?
Definitely come in knowing you should utilize everything HFA offers. Whether you add a specialization or a minor, there are endless things you can do to get the most out of the English major (and there is so much to get out of it!). There are so many important careers that come out being an English major.
Interview by Sarah Mulcahy, Digital Communications Intern