Karissa Geisinger is a senior at Western Illinois University (WIU), working toward an English degree, with a minor in creative writing. Previously, she attended the QC campus, where she was secretary for IDEAS, and has edited and published work in Elements. Now, as she commutes to Macomb, she’s excited to get involved in writing and editing for The Mirror & the Lamp. She enjoys collecting records, plants, and tattoos, as well as concert-going, trying new restaurants, and rewatching her favorite movies.

M&L: What is your weekday routine like as an English major/minor?

I start off my week by going to work every Monday morning. I work at a little drive-thru coffee shop, and the Monday morning rush means I hit the ground running every week. I also work Wednesday and Friday mornings. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’ve got class midday, and Wednesday evenings, I have a creative writing workshop! I don’t know if it’s the most popular opinion, but I really love evening classes and have tried taking one every semester since I first had one in the fall of my sophomore year. In between work, classes, and driving to and from campus, I’m generally at home, sitting at my kitchen table, doing homework.

M&L: What book are all your English peers reading that lies beyond assigned texts for class?

I genuinely don’t know, I feel like everyone is really caught up with reading for classes right now, we hardly have time to read anything for pleasure. On the rare occasion that I’m not reading for one of my classes during the semester, I’m slowly working through the boxes upon boxes of books that are in my bedroom. The last thing I read was Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. Next on my list is Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

M&L: What are your weekends like?

Saturdays are typically for going out. I get lunch or dinner with my grandparents a lot. I try to hang out with my friends, as we don’t often get the chance to during the week. My best friend is in the marching band at her college, so I try to go see at least one football game every fall. Sundays are for sleeping in, any homework I didn’t get to during the week, and sitting on my couch. Sometimes my sister and I like to go get coffee. We blare some music while we drive. It’s a nice way to unwind.

M&L: What book has changed your life as an undergraduate?

In one of my beloved evening classes, I had to read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. I so rarely throw around the word “perfect” when describing any sort of art, because art is completely subjective… but, truly, to me, that is a perfect book. I don’t know if it changed my life, per se, but it changed the way I read and write. Not drastically, but enough. It made me reflect on the timelessness of art, how paintings or sculptures or plays made hundreds of years ago can still mean something, and how art made today might do the same for the future. Like all good books, it made me think. Those are the best kinds. I also got a tattoo based on some lines in the book, so I suppose that aspect changed my life; that will be with me forever.

M&L: Where do you hang out on campus?

Back on the QC campus, there was a little study area with a big window and a few round tables on the second floor of Riverfront Hall, and this is where my friends and I would usually hang out, eat lunch/dinner, and study in between classes. I haven’t been on the Macomb campus long enough to find a great hang out spot just yet. I’m adjusting! Most of the time, I’m so busy that I go to class and then go straight home, although maybe some of that is my chronic homebody-ness. If I had to choose a spot to hang out, it would be the Simpkins Hall reading room.

M&L: Where do you hang out off campus?

As mentioned before, if I’m not in class or at work, I’m at home. It’s my favorite place to be and it’s got everything I need. On the rare occasion that I’m not at one of these three spots, I’m probably with friends and/or trying a new restaurant, stopping for coffee, and frequenting a bookstore in/or around the Quad Cities.

M&L: What has been or will be your biggest adventure as an undergraduate English major/minor?

My biggest adventure so far was receiving an undergraduate research scholarship my sophomore year and traveling with three of my classmates to study James Tiptree, Jr./Alice B. Sheldon at the University of Oregon’s archive! It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done, and I had such a great time, both studying Tiptree/Alice (if you love wacky, 70s science fiction, you’ll love James Tiptree, Jr.) and traveling across the country with some of my friends. It was hard work, but it was truly a labor of love.