Department Profile: English Major Alec Jessar

Hometown: Falls Church, VA

Major(s)/Minors: Double major in English and French 

Any highlights of your time here that you want to share?:  I am a member of SAFAR (Student Association for the Advancement of Refugees), a group which works to support refugees in the Winston Salem community and advocate for refugees in and beyond North Carolina. This has given me the opportunity to teach English at World Relief, a refugee resettlement organization with a branch right here in Winston-Salem. All I can say is the people I have worked with are incredible – clients at World Relief and Wake students. Check out our Facebook page!

Post-graduate plans: I hope to go to law school to study Civil Rights or Immigration law but am still trying to figure things out!

Why I majored in English:  I am learning that literature and theory are at least one way of looking at society and its problems, its injustices. I think it is important to confront and challenge my own worldviews and those that define our society, and the reflection and discussion which have, for me, defined my English classes, have helped me to do so. Taking more English courses is a way of continuing to examine the world beyond the text, especially as it gets uncomfortable.