Welcome to Our Newest 2LM Editors, Clara McGee and Sam Millen! | We Ask, Professors Answer | Senior Spotlight
Welcome to Our Newest 2LM Editors, Clara McGee and Sam Millen!
Read below to learn all about the new 2LM editors for next year!
Sam Millen:
Howdy! I’m Sam Millen!
I’m super excited to be a new co-editor for the 2LM! I’ve always loved writing and literature, so writing about literature seemed right up my alley. I’m also excited to bring my own personal flavor of verve to the publication.
A little taste of that flavor may be something like “Ask the English Department: What’s your comfort read?”
As for my favorite English department moments, while I have loved every English course I’ve been in, I have always been a sucker for Irish literature, so taking Modern Irish Literature with Constance Walker was like a dream come true!
I’ll be in Ireland for the English/Religion OCS over the summer, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to have any summer reads! Currently I’m lined up to read Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin, a retelling of the Aeneid from the perspective of Lavinia, who is a practically voiceless woman in the original poem.
Clara McGee:
I’m excited to be a co-editor because I’ve been an avid reader of the 2LM for ages (okay, two years). I think the 2LM encapsulates pretty much everything I love about the department— learning wonderfully random facts about profs and peers, getting behind-the-scenes glimpses of plays and events, all peppered with witty remarks and literary references.
As a math lover (and major), I’m interested in writing about the connections I see between literature and math, but also about interdisciplinary connections that others see between English and their interests. Because while literature is great on its own, it shines when seen through many eyes.
I loved spending time in London this past winter—it was incredible to live in and learn about a city that plays such a central role in so many of the works I’ve read.
I loved spending time in London this past winter—it was incredible to live in and learn about a city that plays such a central role in so many of the works I’ve read.
Please give a warm welcome to our newest Second Laird Miscellany editors! We are so excited to have their wonderful ideas, voices, and fierce and sharp intellect added to our arsenal!
We Ask, Professors Answer
You know it, you love it: it’s your favorite column. The premise is in the title.
As we sadly come to the end of this wonderful year, we invited all of our beloved English professors to answer one last prompt. This week, we requested some closing remarks in honor of our departing seniors.
Michael Kowalewski:
When asked how he kept his spirits up in the face of overwhelming environmental destruction,
the poet Gary Snyder once said, “Expect nothing but keep working.” That’s still fine advice.
Adriana Estill:
To our English seniors 2025:
brave the world like you brave
poems, knowing you don’t know
much, trusting the words will
be your stepping stones.
George Shuffleton:
(In the manner of Lord Byron)
So you’ll go no more a-reading,
So late into the night,
Though the heart be still as loving,
And the moon be still as bright.
For comps are now behind you,
And your job somewhere awaits,
And you probably won’t need Methods
As you face up to your fates.
But I’ll follow you on Linked In,
And cheer you from afar,
And hope that you keep reading,
Even after you’re a star.
Constance Walker:
In the absence of our erstwhile Miltonist Tim Raylor, somebody needs to quote “Lycidas”: “Tomorrow to fresh woods, and pastures new.”
Peter Balaam:
My wish to seniors:
May you live in much less interesting times!
You said it, Peter. Speak on it. We wish you beautiful lives, seniors, and hope to see you again!
Some final closing remarks for our seniors from one 2LM editor:
Please visit. Or else. No, I’m serious. I don’t know what I am going to do without you, I am nothing without you, please don’t leave. Please stay, please, please—
Senior Spotlight: Amelia Watt and Valentine Weiner
Senior English majors Amelia Watt and Valentine Weiner talk about classes, English major traits, comps, and what the newest English majors need to know.
As the year slowly comes to an end, so do we come to our last edition of senior spotlight. We have gone through the entire alphabet and have now reached the “w” section of our seniors: the lovely Valentine and Amelia.
Valentine Weiner:
What was your favorite class you ever took?
Medieval Other Worlds with George Shuffelton. The readings were great, the discussions were awesome, and I got to do a whole presentation about courtly love!
What advice would you give to future English majors?
The classes you take outside the English department can be just as important for your major as the English courses themselves. A lot of what I got out of my classes came from connections I made between the readings and other classes, mostly in the religion and philosophy departments.
What’s your most “English major” trait?
Using textual analysis to win pointless tumblr arguments about my favorite shows
Amelia Watt:
What was your favorite class you ever took?
My favorite English class was The Gothic Spirit, and my favorite non-English class was Legal Issues in Higher Education.
What’s your most “English major” trait?
My most English major trait is that I own lots of tote bags with literary quotes on them.
What was your comps/thesis?
My comps was on Atwood’s use of the Pygmalion myth in The Edible Woman and Alias Grace. I wrote about how her female characters reclaim agency in the face of male expectations.
What do you think you will miss the most when you graduate?
I will miss the Arb dearly when I graduate. 🙁
Thank you, Valentine and Amelia, for your wonderful responses! We at the Second Laird Miscellany hope your last year at Carleton was a great one and we will miss your presence in the hallowed halls of Laird Hall. We hope you visit, as per our above note.
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