Gabrielle Reed

On Wednesday afternoon I was in the Oak Grove, and having come out of the library and with some extra time on my hands- I decided to see if I could find someone to interview for the Faces of I.U.P blog. There were many walking through it and thanks to the warm weather it felt as though campus were alive once more. As I glanced around I could tell many of them were either coming to or getting ready to head to a class. Save for some people standing alongside the edges of the Grove and in front of the library. Since it was I.U.Patties, many organizations on campus were selling t-shirts to raise money. It was in front of Leonard Hall that I happened upon two girls a part of a gender-inclusive fraternity.

“Would either of you be willing to help me with my blog?” I asked.

“Sure,” both of them said. “Which one of us do you want?”

“I’m thinking of a number between one and ten,” I responded. I figured it was fair.

The number I had in my head was seven. The subject of this interview guessed six. That was how it was decided that she would be the subject of my interview. (Much to the relief of her friend, which I only mention because it was actually hilarious.) 

“What is your name?” I asked her.

“My name is Gabrielle Reed.”

“What is your major?”

“I’m an English Literature major with a minor in German.”

“Ooh, why German?” I asked. I didn’t bring it up during our discussion, but German is one of the languages that I’m currently trying to learn along the side of everything else that goes on with my life. (I’m also trying to get back on a healthier diet and exercise plan. We’ll see how it all goes.) I wanted to know why someone would want to go into a language that isn’t frequently spoken.

“When I was in high school, I got placed into a German class even though I wanted to take French. I automatically fell in love with the language. My teacher was amazing. I decided to continue German. I plan on going into Genocide and Holocaust studies so the German really helps.”

“Interesting,” I noted, making sure to pocket that as a possible element to ask more about to go further into her story. However, I decided to get the basics down first. “What year are you”

“I’m a sophomore.”

“Where are you from?”

“I’m from Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. It’s a really small town close to Central Pennsylvania. Lots of cow. We’re about four hours from Pittsburgh, and four hours from Philadelphia. Yeah, we’re really in the middle of nowhere.”

“It’s okay,” I told her. “I have to tell people that I’m from Scranton because it’s the only city that’s really near me.”

“Oh I’m not too far away from Scranton!” she exclaimed.

“Are you really?” I asked in surprised excitement. “That’s so cool! That’s awesome.” I got really enthusiastic and if I didn’t keep my senses about me, I would have just talked to her about what it’s like living in the Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania area. However, I figured if I did that that’s all this interview would be about. Instead I went on and asked, “So why did you decide to come to I.U.P.?”

“I chose to come to I.U.P. because they have a fantastic English program and I got accepted into the Honors College here. I thought that would be something interesting to do and I like really challenging things. Plus it’s beautiful here.”

“Definitely,” I said. “So why did you decide to join the Honors College?”

“I decided to join for a few reasons. One of which was taking classes that were a little bit different from the typical base classes here at I.U.P. They’re a lot more conversation-based. You do a reading, you discuss it, and you go really in depth behind it. I like how it’s not just a lecture where you get spoken to and then have to repeat back. There’s a lot of critical thinking. I also enjoy the fact that it’s a smaller community because I’m a bit shy and it was easier for me to make friends and have a smaller group pool of people to get to know."

“What activities are you involved in?”

“I’m a part of Sigma Tau Delta, which is an English Honors fraternity. I’m also a part of Toss-and-Turned- which is a student organization. We’re a theater non-for-profit which puts on shows in the spring and every fall. The money we get for it, we donate to a local charity.”

“Do you enjoy Sigma Tau Delta?”

“Yeah. It’s a mixed fraternity and it’s a lot of fun. Everyone is really nice, and if you’re an English major or minor and of sophomore standing with a certain GPA- since it is an Honors fraternity- you’re more than welcome to join. Everyone is really welcoming and it’s nice you have people to talk about what classes you should take and the process of going through your major here.”

“Cool,” I said. I decided it was perhaps time to go deeper into her story. I asked Gabrielle if she was ready- and with her permission- we did. “Can you give me an interesting fact about yourself?”

She thought for a few moments. “I have had training in eleven different styles of dance.”

My mouth dropped. “Eleven different styles of dance!”

She laughed. “Yeah, I started dancing when I was in kindergarten. I just started off with ballet, then jazz, then point. I accumulated different styles such as ballroom and different styles of that; as well as tap. After a while I realized that perhaps I learned a few too many and that I should focus on one or two. That’s when I really focused on ballet. I don’t really dance any more since it doesn’t fit in my schedule. I did take a dance class semester though, I try and fit it in my electives when I can.”

“Why did you decide to become an English major?”

“I love reading, which with my last name it’s kind of hard to not to enjoy it!”

“I get it! I get the pun!” I exclaimed as I burst into laughter.

She laughed as she went on to further explain. “I just love reading. I love taking a text and analyzing it and deconstructing it. I know that a lot of people don’t like to take that deep reading into a text but I love it. I love to take a text apart and look through all the metaphors and the symbols. With that I decided that was the perfect reason to be an English Literature major.”

“Nice,” I said. “So why do you want to go into Genocide and Holocaust studies?”

“When I was in seventh grade we had a unit on the Holocaust. After reading the book Night I was so heartbroken by it but fascinated at the same time because there’s always that thought of how could someone do something like this? So I just kept reading and reading about it. When I found out that with my courses of study I could possibly end up working at the Holocaust Museum Archives and translate documents and find out what happened to people, it seemed like the best way that I could give back to those who lost people and try to help people find out what happened to their family because there’s still a lot of uncertainties behind it.”

“Do you have any personal attachments to the Holocaust? Did you meet anyone or know anyone who went through it?”

“I know several Holocaust survivors actually. A few of them actually came and spoke at my school. I’ve been to the Holocaust Museum many times and spoke to them, plus one of our professors here- her mother is a Holocaust survivor.”

“Really?” I asked in surprise.

“Yes, Dr. Berlin. Her mom survived it. I’ve talked to her about it a couple of times. Her family is of Jewish heritage, but it wasn’t just Jews who suffered from it; it was all minorities and those who didn’t fit into the ‘perfect Aryan race.’”

“I didn’t realize that I.U.P had a course of study for that,” I admitted.

“Well, we have courses of study that involve it. It’ll be more once I go into Grad School that I’ll be able to go into that more.”

“You do plan on going into Grad School?”

“Yes, I want to go into a PhD program here immediately after I get my Bachelors. Most museums will require you have a PhD to work for them. Since I want to go into museum and archive work I think it’d be better to just dive into a PhD program.”

“You said you want to work at the Holocaust Museum. I take it you mean the one in D.C.?”

“Yes. I’ve been there several times. Once for a class trip and a couple of times with my Mom just because I wanted to listen to some speakers that were there.”

“Would you recommend that someone go and hear people- particularly survivors- speak if they have a chance?”

“Yes. Even if you’re not interested in the Holocaust and Genocide Studies, listening to their stories of how they survived are heart-wrenching but inspiring all at the same time. Being able to go in and listen to them is amazing- and every year more and more of them are dying. Every year more and more of them are dying and we need to utilize them as a resource as much as we can.”

“Of course,” I said, “because afterwards there’ll only be documents and documents just don’t have everyone’s story.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “And with some documentation you have memoirs. But much of the documentation it’s just cold, hard facts. We don’t learn of the personal experiences of them.”

“Could you see yourself traveling across the country or even the globe to advocate for these kinds of programs?”

“Definitely. I think it’s really important that the world knows about it so that it can see other signs of genocide so that it can stop it from happening before it gets to be just as the Holocaust- like it almost did in the Armenian and other Genocide. We said that the Holocaust would be the last, but they continue. A lot of it has been us been turning a blind eye and ignoring the signs of what is up and coming. We need to make it a priority to us.”

“So you definitely think that this isn’t something that we can just leave in the past. It’s something we need to address even today.”

“Yes, as we’ve learned from history the past will repeat itself unless we stop it from doing so. We need to learn about it in order to stop them from happening, especially those kinds of horrible events.”

I glanced at my watch and realized that it wouldn’t be long before I would have to get to my class. I decided to ask a couple of more questions. “So as an English Lit Major, do you have a favorite book?”

“My favorite book is Beloved by Tony Morrison. It’s an odd read but it’s got so much symbolism in it, it’s such a deep and rich book and I love it.”

“What’s it about?” I asked her. I had never heard of the book before.

“It’s about a mother and her child that are living in a town. The mother was a slave- and she’s trying to raise her child- but there’s a ghost of another child that she had to kill in order to keep herself from going back into slavery. All of a sudden a woman named Beloved comes to her- and she’s the same age that the child would have been had been still alive. It talks about how this ghost is acting like a child and yet is draining the energy of the household; and how they try to get rid of this entity. It’s very symbolic. It’s not commonly read but it’s very good.”

“Was there a book that you were assigned to read, but you absolutely loved it anyway?”

“Catch 22. It’s about a man who is flying planes during World War II, but he wants to get out of it because he doesn’t want to die. He can’t be released though because he has to be sated, he’s insane because he doesn’t want to go home- he wants to stay. He also keeps having flashbacks of other people’s deaths that he’s witnessed and that he doesn’t want to remember.”

“Just one last thing, what are the t-shirts being sold for?”

“We’re selling the t-shirts to try and raise money to send our fraternity’s officers to a conference in Sigma Tau Delta in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They’re going to meet up with the rest of the officers of the Sigma Tau Delta chapters in the country; and the money is to help alleviate the cost for the officers who would otherwise have to pay entirely for themselves to go.”

I thanked Gabrielle for taking time from selling the shirts and letting me interview her. I will admit that I did purchase one of their shirts. I will admit to the fact that I was going to buy one of their shirts anyway, but as I said- I wanted to see if I could get an interview in.

I would like it to be known that that I as the runner of the Faces of I.U.P. blog don’t support one organization over another. As mentioned before- I just interview people who are willing to let me interview them.

Thanks very much for reading. Two things before this post comes to an end. Firstly, I want to thank my audiences who continue to come back. It truly means a lot. When I asked if they wanted to be interviewed- they both told me that they had heard of my blog. It's great to see that this blog is getting recognition- and none of that would be without you guys. So please, be sure to keep spreading the word around. Tell your friends, tell the people who live in your apartment or on your floor. Even tell your family if you want. This blog would be nothing without you guys.

One last thing. I.U.Patties is still going on, and while it’s great to have an awesome time, I would like to ask everyone to be safe.

Be sure to check back in next time as I try to get to know the stories behind more faces of I.U.P.
Until next time, catch you all later.