Amanda Rossie
English major
Master’s in Journalism, University of Southern California, ‘09
Ph.D. Student in Women’s Studies, The Ohio State University

"Being at a small school with small class sizes, I had to be present mentally and physically, have read the material, and had to be willing to add my voice to the conversation. Although graduate level classrooms can be intimidating, I have relied on my years of confidence-building experience at PC to make my own important contributions at the graduate level. Plus, my relationships with my professors in the English department and its affiliate faculty really influenced my decision to want to become a college professor. At PC, I saw first-hand how nurturing, challenging, and thoughtful professors could be toward students, and it inspired me to want to be that person for someone else. When you have professors telling you that you have good ideas and are willing to support your creative work, you really have no choice but to grow into someone with intellectual curiosity and the belief that you are brave enough to ask big questions."