Students

I will always think back on my time at Bishop's as some of the best years of my life. This school's small size helps foster a sense of close-knit community, and the English department does this particularly well. I was encouraged from the very beginning by professors and other students alike to get involved, to speak up, and to push myself harder. Classes were challenging but entertaining, and professors always kept their doors open to anyone who needed help, or maybe just wanted to chat. The professors at Bishop's are like no others. They are engaging, funny, kind, and most of all, you can tell they really care about their students. They are invested in your development and will help you do the best work you can do. My professors believed in me and gave me every opportunity to prove myself, from an internship with the Morris House Reading Series, to helping organize QUEUC. It's because of this dedication and this engagement that I found myself in love with what I was studying, and plan to pursue graduate work. What can I say, I want to be like my professors when I grow up.

I feel very fortunate to have chosen Bishop's. My time here gave me the chance to study a wide variety of literatures while realizing my capabilities and specific interests. It is truly a remarkable experience. I was the co-chair of the Inglit Club, Bishop's English Literature Club. The club organizes regular events, including weekly study groups, social gatherings and poetry nights, all intended to perpetuate a passion for literature around the Bishop's community. I also had the unique opportunity to assist in the coordination of the Morris House Reading Series, which invites established and emerging writers from all over Canada to Bishop's to read from their body of work.

"What can you do with an English degree?" I must have heard this question a million times when I switched from Business to English in my third year at BU. At the time, I didn't have an answer. I just knew I had to follow my passion. Thanks to small class sizes and the support of my professors, including independent study supervision and frequent office consults to combat writer's block - not to mention spaghetti dinners and movie nights - I managed to finish my Honours degree in two years and go on to complete a Masters in English at UWO. Eight years on, when someone asks, "What can you do with an English degree?" I know exactly what to say: anything. So far I've worked as a Corporate Trainer and a Copy Writer; I've also traveled the world teaching English, first in Seoul and now at the Canadian University of Dubai. Next? Who knows. I do know that my choices are limitless, and choosing English at BU was the smartest thing I ever did.

From 1997-2001, I had the pleasure of studying English Literature at Bishop's University. In my mind, we had one of the best programs at the university, with dedicated professors, amazing social nights, and an engaging approach to the study of literature. The atmosphere of the department was such that you felt the professors had a genuine interest in your success. At no other university have I seen such commitment or sense of community.

The experience of the program and the support of my professors, particularly Dr. Wickens and Dr. McLean, encouraged me to complete an M.A. in English Literature at Wilfred Laurier University. Currently, I am the English Literature librarian at Brock University drawing from the excellent education I gained from the English department at Bishop's!

The English department at Bishops gave me books, and wild notions, lifelong friends, and a lot of good memories. It inspired me, taught me what I was capable of, and in many ways made me the person I am. The classes I took, with their emphasis on discussion and individual exploration, gave me the freedom to work and learn in ways that interested me. My professors introduced me to ideas that gave me new eyes with which to see the world. When I excelled, they encouraged me further, and when I struggled, they did their best to instill their own passions in me. I entered Bishop's unsure of who I was, and what I wanted to be. When I left, I knew that I was a writer.

I headed off to Bishop’s as an ambitious young man seeking to learn the facts about business and industry. Upon arriving, I was told that I would have to choose a minor program in order to become a well-rounded young capitalist. I chose English. This has served me well. One of the benefits of studying the works of others is that you learn to critique your own writing. Being able to produce easily understood documents and essays has helped me advance in both the corporate world and in furthering my own business interests. Currently, I own my own company and produce my own marketing material and business correspondence. My efforts to promote myself have opened the doors to many opportunities. I write a monthly column on the topic of business finance for eNBusiness magazine, a monthly business journal in New Brunswick. I also write a bi-weekly column in the Moncton Times & Transcript promoting the virtues of the political right. I don’t think I would have achieved any of this if not for the critical, and sometimes cruel, red pen of the Bishop’s University English department.

Shawn Oh! Malley, or Shawn Oh! Smiley as we called him, Ken McLean and many other English professors have helped me build my life in many ways. Being born and raised in Haiti, a Creole- and French-speaking country, I didn't know anything about English when I moved to Lennoxville for my studies. Shawn Malley really made the courses interesting and forced me to think "out of the box" when writing essays. I quickly picked up on the language because the courses were fun and the people in the department were very approachable.

Right now I reside in Vancouver BC, working downtown at one of the most prestigious law firms in Vancouver known as Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP as an IT consultant. I'm very thankful for all of their help in building my English skills that allowed me to move as an immigrant to this beautiful country. Thank you, to all of my teachers that helped me.

I initially had some trouble making a decision about what I was going to do for my University degree. Luckily my rather lazy high school guidance councilor scanned my transcript, stopped at the highest mark and declared me to be a perfect candidate for a Bachelor of Arts in English.

I chose Bishop's because of the small classes and the romantic idea of spending the next years of my life reading and talking about the best literature in the world. The fact that we can take 26 letters and arrange them in so many ways is simply inspiring. That so many people can have such insight into the human condition, and that we had the chance to talk about it was incredible.

What I didn't realize is just how well this degree would teach me to balance an open mind with critical thinking. I love the English language and I carry my knowledge of the best conductors of words into my daily life. I work in fundraising at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa. I help raise the money to ensure, in part, that our best new writers are able to put their words on the stage. I do my job well because I am able to better understand, and better explain the meaning of words. From what is on stage to why it needs to be there, I can bring people into the world of language and make them feel at home. That foundation was built through my English degree at Bishop's.

One Bishop's English professor insisted I had a 'Cinderella complex'...another challenged that I only found only the most evil characters interesting! Despite these epic blows to my self-esteem I did in fact graduate.

Professor Wickens (is he calling himself The Godfather these days?) is fondly remembered as my favourite university professor . . . because his laid back manner made analyzing any book feel like chatting around the kitchen table with friends. I looked forward to each class and our discussions. Also...he gave me extensions on my essays.

My experience as an English Honours student at Bishop’s University was the most fun a girl could have in four years. I was challenged and nurtured in equal parts by my professors, who were always willing to respond to my many knocks on their office doors, and who took an authentic interest in my success and academic growth. I don’t know whether I learned more from my professors inside or outside of class, especially when I consider the English Department parties! The programme more than prepared me to successfully complete my Master’s Degree in English at UBC, and in my current position as a Communications Instructor at the British Columbia Institute of Technology I try everyday to live up to the teaching excellence that inspired me at Bishop’s. I am planning to continue my education with a PhD. in English, and know that the foundation I received at Bishop’s is the reason I want to keep learning. Thank you!

It would be impossible to explain all the positive influences Bishop's University has had on my life so I’ll focus on one in particular. In 2004 I completed a foreign exchange to Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. The international exchange department at Bishop's University made this experience possible. I spent six months conducting research for the Makana district government in game reserves around the Eastern Cape. As a result of my time abroad I am currently completing a Master’s Thesis devoted to the study and analysis of South African resistance theater and its relation to the Canadian poet Al Purdy. The close knit community at Bishop's has strengthened my research as I have stayed in touch with many other English graduates who are completing similar research projects at other Canadian universities. The exchange program really opened my eyes to the limitless research possibilities available within the English department.

Most of my memories are like Polaroid snapshots, static remembrances of times past that are increasingly bleary with time. Thinking back on my life at Bishop’s, though, a few moments emerge unmistakeably rich and clear: standing in front of Morris house on a crisp, clear morning talking with Dr. Wickens about an idea for an essay; reading the poem “One Art” to Dr. Craig’s American Poetry class; and my delight at discovering the works of Milton, Shakespeare and Chaucer. New friends are often surprised when I tell them about my university experience, professors that knew me by name and office doors that were always open.

I am an environmental educator now and work at a fantastic research and education facility in the boreal forest of Northern Alberta. Through my teaching I try to encourage children’s curiosity and increase their knowledge of the natural world. My job is often rewarding and always fun!

Something that you can’t say of everyone is that they love what they do. A passion and an enthusiasm for your job aren’t easy to come by. Of the many things my Bishop’s English professors impressed upon me was their enthusiasm for not just teaching itself, but what they taught. It’s hard not to care about something when someone else is that excited about it. I’m confident it’s that gusto and verve that motivated me to take classes I might not otherwise have considered. Without question, I have my English profs to thank for opening my eyes to new literature, and more importantly, new ways of “reading” the world. Something else that has stayed with me is their high expectations. They never accepted anything less than our absolute best. As a student who was sometimes happy to get by with merely “good enough,” they never stopped asking for more. Frustrating as that may have been at times, it was always nice to know that someone believed I could do better. That’s a lesson I’ve taken with me to my own classrooms. I’ve been teaching all the faces of English, even (gasp!) grammar in classrooms all around the world since I graduated from BU, and I’ve taken my professors’ example with me to Japan, Labrador, Halifax, and now, to Edmonton. There are many people who have helped me get to where I am today, not least of whom are my English professors on the Mighty Massawippi Shores.

When I look back on my time as an undergraduate student, I realize how fortunate I was to have spent those years at Bishop’s University. Most people are amazed when I tell them about the sizes of the classes I had (one class – Middle English – had only three students) and the access I had to my professors. I never had a TA at Bishop’s and if I ever had a question about an assignment, it was simply a matter of walking over to Morris House to discuss it directly with my professor.

It has now been over twenty-five years since I started at Bishop’s but I still think back on those classes spent discussing literature and how one professor in particular guided me to become a much more discerning reader. This teacher, perhaps more than any other I had, gave me the confidence to consider doing an Honours degree and even the possibility of pursuing graduate studies. After I finished my degree at Bishop’s I did go on to do a Master’s in English at Queen’s and I know that it is because of my time spent with dedicated teachers as well as the experiences afforded by a smaller university that I was able to do this successfully.

For the past thirteen years I have been a stay-at-home mom raising two children, so I can’t even say that my English degree has taken me to great places in the work force (yet). I can say, without hesitation, that given the chance I would study English at Bishop’s again and hope to have the same good fortune with the professors I got.

Although what I do now is quite far from studying English Literature at Bishop's in sleepy little Lennoxville, my degree taught me to think, to analyse, to debate, to consider and to communicate. As it turns out, there is no substitute for being well educated.

I am now a senior associate at Clifford Chance LLP (London, UK) in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group. (Translated that means I am a lawyer in the London office of the world's largest law firm helping very big companies buy (and sometimes sell) other very big companies.)

My time at Bishop’s was wonderfully provocative thanks in very large part to my experience as an English student. The department welcomed me from the beginning even after I foolishly signed myself up for a third-year course on Canadian poetry in my very first semester. It was a struggle, but one that proved, as all of my BU English courses ultimately did, to be worth it in the best way.

Trying to gauge just how much English studies at BU has shaped my perspective since graduation is relatively easy: school was so engaging and rewarding, I’ve never left. I find myself in Calgary, Alberta, completing a PhD . . . in Canadian poetry of all things.

I came to the English department at Bishop’s with a love of language and literature and I immediately encountered a community of students, professors and staff who shared that passion. My professors indulged both my skepticism and my idealism by providing ample opportunity for scholarship, criticism, celebration, investigation and pure enjoyment of so many diverse texts. The English department was a tightly knit community and we had a lot of fun, both in the classroom and in what felt like the broader world of Lennoxville—reading beat poetry aloud at the Café Java, meeting the visiting Ogden Glass lecturers and watching films at Dr. Wickens’ house. I left Bishop’s with the same love of language and literature, much exercised, and also an unexpected penchant for research, rigour and detail. Studying at Bishop’s was both satisfying and inspiring, gave me real skills and offered an amazing experience. Now I work in publishing and am thrilled that my passions have translated into a rewarding career. My time at Bishop’s played a key role in preparing me to make my mark on Canada’s literary community, and to have fun while doing it.

I graduated from Bishop's with an Honours English degree in 1997. After the requisite period of soul-searching (which involved getting lost in the Rockies while learning to snowboard), I settled in the small northern BC city of Prince George. My first "real" job was in journalism. I started as a freelance writer, then a summer student in the newsroom of the daily paper, then got a staff position at the biweekly sister paper. Within two years, I was editor of the biweekly paper.

I was lucky to have had the experience of going to a small university, where I got to know my professors. I realized, after attending Bishop's, that I could go to a place where being a "big fish in a small sea" was what I wanted, rather than getting lost in the crowds back in my hometown of Mississauga. I continue to seek variety in my career, and currently work on a casual basis for CBC radio.

I think I was phenomenally lucky to stumble across, or into, the English programme at Bishop's. When I first signed up for it, I was a little dubious: I had absolutely no interest in some of the required subject areas (the eighteenth century springs to mind -- pace Dr Retzleff). What I found was a programme rigorous enough to give me a thorough grounding, but flexible enough to let me go off at a tangent when I wanted to, as was frequently the case. I would never have read half the books on the curriculum if I hadn't had to. I'm glad that I did. I loved the small classes at Bishop's, dreaded essays and threw myself at exams in a blind, teeth-gritting panic. It all seemed to work out in the end.

An English degree like the one Bishop's offers teaches its students about the careful use of language. Don't ever believe anyone who says this is a frill. Just look at the enormous efforts expended by governments and businesses to influence the way their policies are described. Language is powerful. Treat it with respect.

I’m now a correspondent for BBC News (television, radio and online), based in Brussels. I’ve also reported for the BBC from Afghanistan, the Balkans, and across Europe. It’s not what I would have predicted when I was at Bishop’s, but Bishop’s certainly gave me a good start.

This is a love letter. A paean to the English department that taught me to recognize inglit, revealed dichotomies, made Ruskin relevant and Sartor Resartus intelligible (almost); to the camaraderie borne in a quaint house at the heart of BU’s campus, nurtured on the wine of annual springtime parties and solidified by film nights, pub nights and of course bonding over books.

Studying English in Quebec gave me an appreciation of the importance of language to culture, to being and knowing, and doing so in the convivial embrace of Bishop’s infused the entire process of learning with a spirit of fellowship and joie de vivre unique to the bubble.

Raise a toast.