In her 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award acceptance speech at Southeastern Community College (SCC), SCC English professor Jodi Cook said, “I am locally born and raised, and this is my home, but I have been incredibly blessed with parents who passed down the wanderlust gene. As an adult I’ve pushed forward and wandered farther and the adventures I have sought out have made all the differences.” Through this statement and her contributions to the institution she serves, such as establishing a Europe Study Abroad Program, Cook demonstrates her advocacy for expanding students’ perspectives. She continues to cultivate a sense of curiosity that encourages her students to notice and build connections within and outside their communities. Through literature and writing classes, drama club meetings, field trips, study abroad programs, jokes and feedback, she spreads her fervent passion for words and for discovering the vastness and wonderful complexity for the world.

Cook has been an English instructor at SCC in Keokuk, Illinois, for the past fifteen years. After a decade and a half of venturing elsewhere, she found her way back to the community and institution that ignited her love for literature and language, ready to foster that same enthusiasm and dedication for what one can achieve with words.

Cook was born Jodi Wilson in 1966 and grew up in Alexandria, Missouri, then populated by only 467 people. In 1994, she eventually arrived at SCC, and after a single literature class with Tom Gardner, Cook was inspired to enroll full-time and pursue an English degree. At SCC, Gardner encouraged Cook to become involved in student government and organizations like drama club, which only expanded her fondness for serving her community and learning about the power of words.

After graduating with an associate’s degree from SCC in 1994, she transferred to Western Illinois University (WIU) to complete her bachelor’s. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1996 as an English Education major with a minor in Creative Writing and was chosen as the English/Journalism Departmental Scholar. In 1999, she received a Master of Arts in English and Writing from WIU. Cook went on to become a full-time English professor at WIU for eleven years; Cook was also an adjunct instructor of English and speech at Carl Sandburg College. In 2010, destiny led her back to where everything started, and she returned to SCC as an English professor and drama club advisor.

Cook said during her 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award acceptance speech, “I loved my job [at WIU], truly enjoyed my students and the people I worked with, but I never forgot where I started and the essential difference the SCC made in my life as a young mother.”

At SCC, Cook created the Keokuk Annual Zombie Walk, an event that united the entire Keokuk community during Halloween season and encouraged creativity and connection. Cook also decided to share her passion for traveling by establishing the Europe Study Abroad Program. She directed numerous plays and musicals, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Young Frankenstein, and Rent. Although she no longer directs, Cook continues to support local and regional theatre by encouraging and facilitating access for students, colleagues, and SCC alumni to productions of all sizes. All these things are a testament to Cook’s dedication and advocacy to the arts.

When asked what her favorite thing about becoming an English instructor was, Cook answered, “I love watching sparks when somebody gets something that wasn’t working before. I love to inspire any sort of love for literature or writing. I love when someone who didn’t have confidence gains confidence and I have just a tiny bit to do with it[…] It’s amazing [to hear] that you touched someone in some positive way.”

She values the impact of her words and choices as an educator. She also values the influence she can have on others’ understanding of life since she was similarly influenced by people like Bruce Leland, Wayne Crawford, and Tom Gardner, whom she credits as important pioneers for her ever-growing curiosity in the vast power of language and the desire to explore the connections between literature and life that has led her to this point.

Cook tells The Mirror and the Lamp that she “[…] would do the same thing” if she could do it all over again. In a more general sense, she did mention:

“If I could do anything, what would I do? If it was just like anything in general, I would cure cancer. How’s that? Peace in the world? Those are the things I’m supposed to say. Maybe take everybody on a trip to see a Broadway production of my choosing. It would probably be Cabaret or something like that. Maybe just torture everyone with Phantom [of the Opera].”

She also said, “I wish I could play the cello. Any sort of musical instrument. It would be amazing to just have that talent. And also, you know, math that involves letters. That would be cool to know.”

After years of teaching, writing, directing, traveling, “[…]eat[ing] the food, buy[ing] the crafts, and [not being] afraid to venture out,” Cook continues to champion noticing and appreciating the connections between literature and the diverse, multifaceted human experience and the impact that words can have on those around her. Just like there once were the words and actions of staff, instructors, and family members that influenced her to learn about language and the world, Cook makes sure to make her words count and cherishes the community she has built through them.

The life of an educator is not an easy one, but it is not one Cook regrets or dislikes (apart from the part that involves grading essays). Life is far from simple and untroubled, but there are forces, such as that of words, that no adversity can detract. Cook lives life to the fullest, appreciating each moment and conversation, and “[…] seek[s] to inspire others [to] express and cherish words and memories, and encourage[s] those around [her] to do the same,” for, as she said in her 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award acceptance speech, “we rise by lifting others, and it costs us nothing.”