The UC Davis English Department presents Gil Vitro (they/them/theirs) for the Student Profile Series! Gil is a fourth year English (Literature, Criticism, and Theory emphasis) and Anthropology double major.

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

There's a collage of memories in my head of finding my favorite places to sit on campus

(the Coffee House, the WRRC, the CCC, the Quad), and working on projects and talking with people. I loved being on campus earlier in the day when everyone was slowly trickling in for classes.

What are you passionate about?

I am passionate about important things, like equity, social justice, accountability, and conscientious inclusivity, but I am also passionate about medieval literature, fictional characters, story podcasts, my friends, and basically everything I study in class. I tend to find excitement around me!

If you could write a book about your life, what would the title be?

I Was Born Screaming, and Haven't Stopped Since: Life and Musings of Gil Vitro

What makes you proud to be an English major?

I feel like this program has helped me really understand what it is about university that I like so much. I feel like my work as an academic has grown the most through my major, and I can only thank my friends and mentors in the department for their support and ambition.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I hope to be professor working at a university and that I have a pet of some kind -- a ferret if it's legal, a dog or cat if it's not. Really, I just see myself trying to live a contented life, and maybe not being as stressed as I currently am.

List three of your favorite English professors.

Professor Greg Glazner who is the professor who let me chatter his ear off during office hours during not one, but two different classes; Professor Matthew Stratton, the man who singlehandedly got me to understand Kant and has the most interesting things to say; Professor Claire Waters, my endlessly considerate and supportive thesis advisor, who lets me ramble about why I love and hate writing about The Canterbury Tales in equal measure.

What do you like to do in your free time to unwind?

To unwind, I like to watch TV with my family, crochet/knit, and debate about meaningless plot points with my dad.

What is a must-read for an English major?

"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin. It's a short story, but it really packs a lot of power in not many pages!

List three of your favorite English classes.

ENL 005F Creative Writing: Fiction, with former MFA students Andrew Ly and Neil Davidson, ENL/STS 164 Writing Science, with Professor Colin Milburn, and ENL 111 Topics in Medieval Literature: The Monster Class of Monsters, with Professor Matthew Vernon

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

I want the English Department Community at UC Davis to continue to show up in support for each other. In every class I've been in, I've found peers to connect with and faculty who helped encourage me to get writing done when the energy has not been there, and even though things are virtual right now, I've still gotten that chance to engage with people and make new friends. This is a major where you really get to author (heh, get it?) your own experience, and I know my own experience would not have been the same without the people I met along the way.

Speed round time!

Cats or dogs?

Dogs 

Coffee or tea?

Anything non-caffeinated!

Early bird or night owl?

Is there an afternoon equivalent? Afternoon squirrel, maybe? 

Best major in the whole world?

English!