self-portrait by Emily Cottingham
In this interview, we talk with Emily about gummy bears, slow walkers, and prompt-less papers.
UKWC: Do you write a lot?
Emily: I do, yes. I write a lot… partly because I’m an English major, and partly because I enjoy writing in my free time.
UKWC: Have you ever been stymied by a paper?
Emily: I haven’t ever done really poorly on a paper… but I’ve definitely had some papers that have kept me up all night! Sometimes a professor will ask students to make up their own prompt, and that’s really difficult. It takes much more time!
UKWC: If you aren’t up writing a paper, and you can’t get to sleep, what do you do?
Emily: I usually make tea and read a book, which sounds lame and boring, but hey, that’s what I do.
UKWC: What’s annoying to you?
Emily: People that walk too slowly on the way to class. That sounds so bad to say! But it’s only because I walk really quickly, because I’m usually late.
UKWC: Ah! That’s your own doing.
Emily: Yes. Sometimes it reminds me of running Cross Country.
UKWC: You ran Cross Country?
Emily: Yeah, in high school. Sometimes people try to block you from passing them. In men’s cross country it gets especially rough when the track runs through somewhere the officials can’t see, like through trees.
UKWC: What candy should the Writing Center give out?
Emily: Well, my favorite candy is gummy bears. But if we gave out gummy bears, we should probably put them in individual bags. A giant bowl full of gummy bears all squished together looks kind of gross.
