By: Carly Compesi, Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of Alyse Knorr
I was lucky enough to interview Alyse Knorr, an assistant professor in the English Department who teaches creative writing and Women and Gender Studies, about college life and beyond. Professor Knorr expressed profound gratitude for where she is now in her career at Regis, and also for the friends, mentors, and teachers who have been there since the start of her journey.
“I got my Bachelors in English with a double major in Journalism from Elon University in 2009,” Knorr began. “I’ve loved reading my whole life, since I was tiny. I loved reading and making books—I was making books with my dad before I could even write...so it’s funny how, sometimes you always know what you’re supposed to do, but then you get derailed from that.”
Knorr explained her attempt at a psychology major, having originally assumed that her love of literature and poetry stemmed from a fascination with feelings. “That was a really bad idea,” Knorr laughed. “I took my first psychology class and I was like, ‘Wait, why are we talking about numbers and graphs and charts?’ And then I was like, ‘Oh, this is a social science. We don’t just philosophize about feelings or talk about them. That’s what literature is for.’ And in my English classes, I was having so much fun writing and thinking about how language works and how to make beauty out of words. I mean, it’s incredible.”
After dropping the psychology major, Knorr ended up an English and print journalism double major, journalism being her “more realistic,” career-related back-up plan. Unfortunately, that back-up plan was formed at a time when journalism was struggling to contend with the digital age. This was further complicated by the economic recession, which started just a year before Knorr graduated.
“In the lobby of the journalism building, they had hundreds of copies of the two local papers, the USA Today, and the New York Times,” Knorr recalled. “We were supposed to read all of them everyday. That was our job as journalism majors. It was really fun. You’d go to the dining hall and you’d have your whole newspaper out on the table. And I remember, in 2009, looking at the stock market crashing and looking at what was happening in the journalism industry.
“I did an internship at a newspaper, and it was just scary. All they talked about was, ‘Get out while you can.’ Journalism is fine now, but at the time, it was just a crisis because they didn’t know what was happening. I remember interning for this newspaper, and they were in this huge skyscraper in Atlanta, and there were whole floors—it was like Pompei had happened. One time, I got off the elevator on the wrong floor...all the lights were off and there were old books and everyone’s stuff was on the floor. It was like they’d disappeared.”
In the face of the recession and the collapse of print journalism, Knorr went to graduate school to “buy more time.” That way, she would have access to the stipends and benefits that can come with MFA programs in creative writing. (“I ate a lot of ramen,” Knorr added when mentioning the size of her stipend.) Knorr had already found herself in the world of writing and publishing, and she had participated in a few journalism internships with mixed success. “You have to be pretty tough and you have to be pretty fearless, and that’s not me,” Knorr shrugged. “I’m a Hufflepuff, you know?”
The problem—or perhaps the solution—came when realizing that her path led to teaching. Prior to being a TA in graduate school, Knorr was set against teaching, having already watched her parents work long hours as educators. “My life’s calling is something I never ever saw coming,” she explained. “My first day of [teaching] class was a lot like my first date with my wife. I wasn’t looking for a serious relationship—we went on our first date and I was like, ‘Oh, this is it. I just found her.’ It was the same thing with teaching. I was immediately in love with it. I’d never had a job that gave me more energy when I was done. It’s the biggest privilege.”
Thus began Knorr’s path in the world of academia, which was not without its challenges. She explained that the world of higher education has few positions like hers, in which she is paid to teach and to write. Because Ph. D. and MFA students are applying for these rare positions, the competition and pressure is high. “I’m extremely lucky, first of all, [to have] ended up here at Regis. The path to get here: I went through grad school and got teaching experience there, and I was trained really well. I had pedagogy classes—that’s really rare at grad school. Usually, they just throw you in the classroom.
“My first year out...I adjuncted, and it was really, really hard. [Kate Patridge and I] lived in subsidized housing, and we had bed bugs. It wasn’t nice. I was teaching five classes a semester—a normal load is more like three. I was teaching all the time, and I was trying really hard to get my book published because you can’t really get a fancy teaching job unless you have a couple books published. So I was teaching and teaching and teaching, and then I was doing professional development to build up my CV. I was trying to give presentations whenever I could at conferences. I was trying to write poems and send them out for publication. I was working all the time and it was really hard.”
Knorr’s luck changed when she was offered a term position at the University of Alaska Anchorage, which eventually turned into three years of teaching students that she called “fascinating.” Many were nontraditional students with backgrounds and cultures that contributed to the “rich diversity” she saw in her classrooms. This diversity was what Knorr considers her training in inclusive pedagogy. The open enrollment, community college feel at University of Alaska Anchorage forced her to accommodate students with needs of all sorts, which caused her to reevaluate her teaching style.
“You’d get an email from them like, ‘I’m still flying my plane and I’m going to be late for class today,’ and you’re like, ‘Stop emailing me from your plane,’” she explained. “They need support in different ways—students who are working full time, students who have families, students who have kids, students who have to go home to their village for a month to do the whaling expedition—[and] you have to become more flexible and adaptable and welcoming and inclusive. I think that all those experiences have made me a much better teacher because I got on the ground training in inclusive pedagogy.”
When budget cuts jeopardized Knorr’s time in Alaska, her and Partridge sought out Ph. D. programs and tenure track positions, which eventually brought them to the Denver metro area and Regis University. Here, she’s had the chance to watch her vocational and career interests divert and intersect. Not only is she a professor, but she is also a writer, bandmate, and mother. Knorr and Partridge run a small feminist poetry press, and Knorr puts together a podcast. However, none of these vocations seem to eclipse her love of teaching.
“It seems unique to feel so lucky to have, not only a job in this field, but to have a job in a city I love at a school that I love with colleagues and students that I love,” Knorr smiled. “I’m just so grateful everyday.”
As for advice to soon-to-be graduates, Knorr suggested entering with an open-mind. “You never know what you might end up loving. And if you can be open to that, it’ll make you less stressed. Also, realize that your career doesn’t have to be the first job you take after college. You’re not glued to that for the rest of your life. You’re not even glued to that career path for the rest of your life. Trust yourself...if everybody else wants you to do one thing, or your parents want you to do one thing...they don’t know they way you know, and it can get really confusing if you start to think that they know better than you. You’re in good hands with yourself. You’re your own best ally.”
With this came advice to stay connected to those you love, however that may look. “I always had so many wonderful friends and mentors and teachers who were there when things were hard, you know? I was coming out in grad school and I got really depressed, and that was really really hard, and I wouldn’t have made it through without the support of my community and my chosen family and my teachers...I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on how grateful I am. Now that I know what hard work teaching is and how you stay up late thinking about your students, worrying about them, and wanting the best for them, I’ve been very grateful [realizing] someone did that for me. A lot of people did that for me. [So] keep in mind whoever you’re most grateful [for]. I think it’ll make you happy.”