Derek Blankenship, a senior majoring in English with an affinity to Chinese and computer science, has been able to thrive as a student newspaper leader at Whittier, with plenty of activities, travel and honors to show for it.
English with minors in Chinese and computer science
Stockton, CA
When I was a kid I didn’t have big dreams in terms of a career. I wanted to work with computers like my dad, who is a systems administrator at University of the Pacific. Besides that, I spent a lot of time fantasizing about having magic powers. I envisioned myself going to Hogwarts, mastering The Force, earth bending, and the like.
Jobs: I worked for the Quaker Campus student newspaper all four years; served two semesters as a peer mentor; and tutored at the Homework House one semester.
Study abroad: I studied for a semester in Beijing last Spring 2015. It was a language immersion program for mandarin, so I wasn’t allowed to speak English at all during weekdays, with breaks on weekends. It was a very intense and challenging experience, but I learned a lot and befriended many exceptional people. At the end we toured around China for two weeks, including stops at Chengdu and Tibet.
Clubs: I joined the Artorian Order of the Knights of Pendragon (AOKP) my freshman year. It’s our LARP club and essentially a collection of the weirdest and coolest people on campus. I haven't been so active this year because of the paper, but AOKP membership is for life and as long as I’m in the area I know I’ll have a place to adventure with friends on a Thursday night.
Honors societies: I’m a member of both the Sigma Tau Delta English honors society and the Omicron Delta Kappa leadership honors society.
Other Honors & Awards: First place in English department scholarly writing contest; second place in English department fiction writing contest; third place in English department fiction writing contest; second place in Auntie’s Bakery poetry contest; semi-finalist for Fulbright; Tuition Exchange Scholarship; several published works in the Whittier College Literary Review.
I’ve had a lot of really amazing classes, but if I had to choose just one then it is without a doubt Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, which is a JanTerm course taught by Scott Creley, visiting instructor in the English department. Not only did my writing improve dramatically, but I also got to read a multitude of great stories written by the rest of the class. It was so much fun! Creley himself is a super-cool guy.
My favorite spot to study is on the top floor of the library in the southwest corner that overlooks the campus center. I love that place because it is very quiet and peaceful, and it has an amazing view of the string of palm trees that extend from Deihl Hall down to The Rock. Those trees are my favorite campus landmarks, because they capture an ideal image of Californian beauty, and they shift and change depending on which angle you view them from. Also, when you’re sitting in my favorite spot, you can lift or lower the shade depending on your ideal temperature, and whether or not you want to be distracted by the amazing view.
This is pretty much an impossible question to answer. In perfect honesty, near every professor I have interacted with has inspired me in some significant way. I love them all. When filling out my commencement form, I gave so much praise that I exceeded the word count and had to cut it down significantly.
If I could explore L.A. with anyone it would be Visiting Assistant Professor of Journalism and New Media Joe Donnelly. He has a deeper understanding of this city than anyone I know. I imagine I’d learn a lot, have a blast, and he’d have a cool story for every other street corner we’d pass.
During the summer I’m going to work a few weeks as a camp counselor for idTech and I’ll also be reading books, playing video games and going to the beach. idTech holds camps for children to learn programming, electronics, and other technical skills. So that’ll be cool.
I am still waiting to confirm this, but next fall I’m looking to move up to Portland where I will be living in community and working for a non-profit as a fellow in the Quaker Voluntary Service program.
The one Whittier experience I’ll always remember is production night in the QC. When I started out it seemed like something outside of myself. I walked into the room and you could tell that there was a shared history there. These people had a strong bond with each other and a unified mission to produce a good newspaper while in good company. Back then I used to look up to everyone else, but now everyone else is looking up to me. It’s all come full circle.
