Joanna Buoniconti ’21 Reflects on Her UMass Experience

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Joanna Buoniconti ’21 recently reflected on her college experience in her Daily Hampshire Gazette column “UMass was the best school for me.”

An English and journalism double-major, Buoniconti has served as a guest columnist at the Gazette since 2019, where she has reflected on her experience living with a debilitating neuromuscular disability called spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). She has also served as an editorial intern for Lucky Jefferson, and a copy and managing editor at the Amherst Wire.

"I joined the Honors College relatively late in my college career, during the second semester of my junior year,” Buoniconti said about her experience at Commonwealth Honors College. “I applied on a whim because of the urgings from one of my professors, who inspired me to continue working on a project that I started in his class for the makings of a senior thesis. I'm so happy that I did so, because it allowed me not only to gain confidence in my writing skills, but also to find a wonderful community of people."

For her Honors Thesis project, Joanna created an abridged memoir entitled “Bathing in My Brokenness" and worked with English professor John Hennessy.

For more of Joanna’s work, please visit her byline page at the Daily Hampshire Gazette.