My name is Sophia Kohl, and I am a senior who is majoring in English/Creative Writing and graduating a year early. I am a part of the Greek Group, Alpha Sigma Pi, and have lived in Iowa all my life. Some of my best English experiences on campus have been in classes such as NaNoWriMo with Professor Rebecca Entel, Fandom and FanFiction with Professor Katie Sagal, and Dante’s Inferno with Professor Katy Stavreva. All of these classes have given me an unforgettable experience that has reaffirmed my love for my major and given me stories to tell when people ask me about my time in college. Being able to have the opportunity to write a book as a block assignment, continuing my long standing career as a fanfiction author but in an actual educational setting, and journaling/discussing a crazed mans ravings in one of the most interesting settings that actually made me sad to miss class when sick (shout out to my group mates for always making it worth it to show up for class). In my senior year, I have also had a
choice to explore the other side of the arts that Cornell offers. Shout out to Professor Stevie Delgado! I love your classes even though I can’t draw, and found that even in the instance of physical arts, I can incorporate my love for writing through creation.
In order to achieve literary citizenship as an English Major at Cornell, you have to total 37.75 hours in literary-related activities and reflections. I’ve always been a big reader, so I was pretty excited to be able to just read and have that count for a good amount of course hours. There were multiple instances that I could count down for this reading time (I read an ungodly amount of fanfiction every day), but I wanted to specifically focus on the book series I read. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is a trilogy that is ongoing, not that I knew that when I first picked up the series, and much to my disappointment, when I finished the third book. She has two more books on their way to publication. It takes place in a dangerous world in the main character’s dragon school. It’s kind of like Harry Potter for lovers of Wings of Fire and A Court of Thorns and Roses. Our main character finds herself bonded to not one but two dragons (an unheard of achievement ), and would she really be a main character if they weren’t also the most rare and powerful kinds that no one else has? It’s a whirlwind romance with a healthy amount of action and mystery. I read it all in one weekend, even though my friend called me a liar, which reminded me of when I was in elementary school and I wanted to check out an entire book series. My librarian said no because I wouldn’t read them all, which would lead to them sitting at home and getting lost. Being a notoriously fast reader, I took great offense to that and swore that I could do it. My librarian, a grown adult, said she would bet – yes, that’s right, BET – me a whole two dollars if I could read them all and complete a test on the series by the time Monday rolled around. Now, two dollars may not be enough, but for a kid whose ability had just been doubted, it was more about the pride of taking the money from her than anything. Also, the scholastic fair was soon, and a girl needed a new bookmark. So I read the whole series and returned triumphantly to pass her test. Officially two dollars richer and with a new passion for gambling at eleven years old, I thought I was the coolest. Now, what I think is cool is that reading has been so intertwined in my life that the simple act of reading a book can spark childhood memories better than most things in my life.
I was in the middle of planning out my novel for a class when I read this series and it helped me shape how I wanted my character’s relationship to my other character to progress. The main characters in Fourth Wing focus on a slight enemy-to-lovers trope doused in a whole lot of yearning from both characters. Which is what I wanted to convey in my book. Getting an idea fresh in my mind on how published authors achieved that helped me in the past and will continue to help me in the future. I’d say what I am looking forward to next is my Senior Seminar (an English degree required class for those confused; my friends always are when I bring it up) and having the opportunity to continue my novel, possibly to completion, which would be a great thing to finish my college career off with. Being allowed to freely specialize in what I want out of my education while still being in college is a big deal to me, and I am grateful for the opportunity that the English Department has provided me with.
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