Student Profile: Alyssa Hayes

  • by Staff

Student_Profile_Pic_Frog_Hat_Berlioz.jpgWhat are your major(s) and minor(s)? Include your English major emphasis ( or intended emphasis) as well!

4th yr English major double emphasis (Lit. Criticism & Creative Writing).

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis? (1-3 sentences)

Reading in the arboretum during the spring and winter quarter of my freshman year (before pandemic restrictions). I remember it was the year I started reading the Inheritance Cycle Series and I’d read in the arboretum during the morning whenever classes were spontaneously canceled. I also loved working with the Nest Box Highway project banding birds, spotting the turtles, and looking up at the beehives in the trees at the far west wing of the arboretum.

What is a must-read for an English major? (Just the title is fine, but feel free to put 1-2 sentences explaining if you Commission_Pet_Portrait.jpglike)

A Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. She’s an amazing person to read about!

“Over increasingly large areas of the United States, spring now comes unheralded by the return of the birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song.”

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? (1-3 sentences)

Hopefully working for the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Maybe pursuing law down the road and working on the CESA council. We’ll have to see!

What are you passionate about? (1-3 sentences)

Using my abilities in reading and writing to communicate the value of the animal perspective and the importance of wildlife conservation. 

What do you like to do in your free time to unwind? (1-3 sentences)

I love to crochet while watching crime documentaries and finishing my pet portrait commissions. I love trying new food and new restaurants. Taking my cats Teddy and Tigger on long walks every Saturday is definitely up there, too.

Student_Profile_Pic_Donut.jpgIf you could write a book about your life, what would the title be? (Just the title is fine, but feel free to put 1-2 sentences explaining if you like)

Pumpkin’s Nine Lives.

I’m Pumpkin and I would write about the felines that changed my life throughout all my transitions during childhood. Nothing like a non-fiction bildungsroman led by the imprint of feline friends.

What makes you proud to be an English major? (1-3 sentences)

Knowing I have the power to change perspective, convince with fervor, and revolutionize the world in ways I see fit. I love that my work has the gravity to move people and the capacity to transcend time. A piece of me that can persist beyond my life, keeping my passions alive beyond my grave一 what’s more magical than that?

If you had one wish for the English Department/Community here on campus...what would it be? 

I think that all students deserve a community where they can inspire each other through shared interests and common goals. I hope to see the English Department interact more with their students in and out of the classroom. A more engaging classroom atmosphere like outdoor class periods and relevant field trips. Promoting events and merchandise empowering English majors and sustaining an active environment for generations of future students.

List 3 of your favorite English Professors. Student_Profile_Pic_Goats.jpg

Prof. Miller, Prof. Dolan, & Prof. Bloom

List 3 of your favorite English classes. 

ENL 189 (Literary Studies Seminar on New World Consumption), ENL 180 (Children’s Literature), ENL 100NF (creative writing non-fiction)

Cats or dogs?

Cats!

Coffee or tea?

Tea!

Early bird or night owl?

Dusk pigeon.

Best Major in the Whole World?

English!