As if being an English graduate student at Sac State weren’t tough enough, Brooke Zloczewski is currently the President of the English Club, one of two senior editors for Calaveras Station, the campus literary Journal, and a co-conspirator of Caffeinated Collective, an open mike held on campus. In pursuit of her goal to become a professor, Brooke works at the Writing Center; a student-run writing tutorial service, and she teaches and tutors for several different English composition classes. Brooke managed to find the time in her busy schedule to talk to the State Hornet about Sac State.

Hornet Staff: How did you end up at Sac State?

Brooke Zloczewski: I applied to both Sac State and Sonoma State, which is in Santa Rosa, but I ended up choosing Sac State. Going away to school appealed to me but I think I was just too attached to my boyfriend, now husband, and family at the time. Also, my parents weren’t going to help me financially, I had to put myself through school, so it was easier to just stay close to home in order to work my way through.

HS: Who is your favorite Professor at Sac State?

Brooke: Linda Palmer, who teaches American Literature. She particularly specializes in the West and Native American Literature. She’s a very natural, earthy kind of woman, very outdoorsy, and she makes you work your butt off. But she knows a lot, she’s very inspirational and she’s really into what she’s teaching, so I always felt very challenged by her yet encouraged to participate. I remember when I took early American Literature from her she would make us write in our books and check that we had written in our books. She was always a very difficult grader as well. She really challenged my thought process and my writing, and I really appreciated that.

HS: Why do you like Sac State better than UC Davis?

Brooke: Sac State has such an intimate atmosphere, at least in the English department. I remember some of my GE classes were pretty large, sixty people or so, but nothing like 400 people with a graduate student doing the grading [which you might find at Davis]. I’ve learned to really appreciate that; I’m really glad I went to a university with smaller class sizes because I feel like I get more attention and more contact with the people who are experts in their field. I love Sac State; I love it for the people, the students and the professors alike. I’ve had some great experiences here.

“These are the people in your neighborhood” is an attempt to create a greater sense of community at Sac State through weekly profiles of interesting people on campus, be they student, faculty, or staff. If you are or know of an interesting person that deserves greater recognition, contact [email protected]. See you in the Funny Pages!