Beth Moore

Major: English
Minor: History

Q. Did you always know you wanted to be an English major?
A. Yes, I’ve always been interested in literature. I love reading it, writing about it, discussing it—and discovering things through the process.

Q. Why did you chose Drew for this pursuit?
A. Because of what I heard about its English program: encouraging faculty and small class sizes. I believed Drew would give me the support and flexibility I needed to figure out what I wanted to study in depth. It did: I fell in love with the literature of the medieval period. 

Q. Tell me about a magical class experience.
A. The course was Old English Language and Culture. One day we all hiked out to the Arboretum to read out loud (in Old English) the scene in Beowulf describing Grendel’s Mother’s Mere. It was early in the morning, and freezing, and, for many of us, the best day of class.

Q. How about learning experiences outside of your courses?
A. I’m an editor for both the research-based journal Drew Review and the student literary publication Insanity’s Horse—both offer wonderful ways to take what I’ve learned in class and put it into practice. I also completed a summer internship at a YMCA camp, working as an archivist to organize and preserve historical documents. My English courses—as well as history courses—prepared me for the complexities that accompany any kind of work with primary materials.

Q. So, you’re a regular scholar, an inhabitant of academe…
A. I think it’s OK to study or pursue something that others might regard as odd or useless—it’s OK to be incredibly nerdy about that subject! Chances are there’s a reason why you like it, and that’s worth exploring! 

Q. Do you find time to take off the mortarboard?
A. There’s also a whole list of books I want to read that have absolutely nothing to do with any class I’m in. I also hang out with a group of people I’ve known since our first year. We are utterly ridiculous, and I love it. 

Q. Any final thoughts?
A. The people at Drew really are amazing: passionate and creative. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to get to know them and work with them. Especially the English department faculty—there were times when I felt more like a colleague than a student, and that was wonderful.