The most beautiful thing about studying English is the ability to step outside of yourself and experience a new perspective.
In a 1964 interview, James Baldwin said, “You think your pain and heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all people who were alive, or who had ever been alive.” Every avid reader likely has a deep and visceral understanding of this sentiment, this feeling of connection. If you want to take your love of reading and stories a step further, studying English can connect you not only to the written word but also to the world around you and your place in it.
Right now, it is so imperative that we use the gift of literature – the perspectives, the stories, the theories — to relate to and care for our communities.
As the Access Coordinator at the Flint Hills Breadbasket, the food pantry that serves Manhattan and Riley County, my highest priority is to ensure that the people in our community who need our services are not only able to access them, but to be treated with respect and dignity when doing so. My education through the K-State English Department allows me to look at issues such as poverty and insecurity with a wide lens. It taught me the importance of context, so I am able to look at larger systems in place that affect who has access to basic necessities like food, housing, and education, and that without looking at the bigger picture, looking at culture, at theory, at systems, we will fail the people we are here to serve.
For example, many people do not know that Riley County is the only county in the state where people are living in persistent poverty – a poverty rate of 20% or more for the past 30 years, according to a 2023 study (Benson et al.). Without taking the opportunity to learn about the reality of poverty in my community, using critical thinking skills, and asking questions, I would not be able to fully do my job and serve our guests in a comprehensive manner. All of these skills were honed during my time at the English Department.
If you do not like to be challenged, to ask questions, to try and try again, this might not be the program for you. But I can say this: my personal experience in the K-State English Department was both extremely challenging and one of grace and acceptance.
When I entered the English department as an undergraduate, it was at a very difficult time in my life. After a car accident at 19, I was suddenly dealing with disability and chronic pain, a new kind of torment, and one that felt extremely lonely. Between the English and Women’s Studies departments, I was treated with understanding and dignity, allowing me to access the education I desperately wanted and needed to succeed. And to come back to Baldwin, this experience introduced me to disability studies and the writings of disabled people, allowing a connection when everything felt impossibly lonely.
The faculty in the department, perhaps unknowingly, modeled for me what it looks like to help somebody in need, a lesson of incalculable value in my life. My advisor, Dr. Naomi Wood, was always there to help me navigate not just enrolling in classes, but the education system as a disabled person. She encouraged me to take leadership roles when even I didn’t know I was capable of it. Similarly, Dr. Lisa Tatonetti saw that I had a passion for theory and encouraged me to pursue it, to always ask questions, and to always speak up. And although she was in another department, I would be remiss not to mention just how much I learned from Dr. Shireen Roshanravan. She and Dr. Tatonetti challenged me to think deeply about issues such as race, gender, and class, in ways that I never had as a life-long Kansan from a small town.
This education was life-changing for me. I always knew I cared deeply about others, but it gave me the tools to see people as individuals who exist within systems that deeply affect them in their day-to-day lives. It also gave me the communication skills needed to succeed in the world. People are often surprised that my background is in English, rather than something like social work, except for those who are true readers at heart. They get it.
And finally, if you’ve stayed with me until the end, dear blog reader, let me leave you with this: beware any tools that are made to bypass your brain in the name of productivity or etiquette. Generative AI is not your friend; it is a scourge on our environment and on our ability to think critically. Do not let anyone convince you that your brain is less powerful than any computer, any machine, because it is not. Do not cheapen your own words, your own thoughts by allowing a machine to tell you how and what you should say. No machine could write those books that made James Baldwin realize his visceral connections to others. Only we, as human beings, have that power, and it is imperative that we remember that.
Works Cited
Baldwin, James. “James Baldwin Recalls His Childhood.” New York Times, 31 May 1964, p. X11.
Benson, Craig, et al. “Persistent Poverty in Counties and Census Tracts.” Resource Library, United States Census Bureau, 9 May 2023, https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2023/acs/acs-51.html. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.
— Laura Thacker (BA ’12, MA ’14)
K-State English 