Alanah Rose

This is me and my cat, Misty, on Halloween in 2020. I went as Angela Martin from The Office.

Who I am

Hi, my name is Alanah Rose! I am an English major with a concentration in teaching. Interestingly, I was not always an English major. When I first came to ODU, I had no idea what I wanted to study. There were so many options to choose from. Communications? No, I was not sure what that was at the time. Art? Nope, I have never taken an art class in my life. Pre-Law? Nah, I do not like to argue. Then I realized after one semester without an English class, I missed the atmosphere of English class! I missed reading for an assignment and doing different projects that were both beneficial to my understanding and fun to do. So, I became an English major and I never looked back! However, I was surprised to find out there was more to just choosing the major, I needed a concentration. A lot of them intrigued me: journalism, literature, creative writing. When I learned about linguistics and how it is the study of language, that is what I chose.

It was not until 2 or 3 semesters later that I realized I wanted to be a teacher. After reading April Baker Bell's Linguistic Justice, and learning about how much AAE is socially stigmatized and how it is ingrained in us early during school, I was inspired to teach. I want to teach young students about standard English without erasing and debasing their dialect. The reason I am leaning towards teaching middle school is because that was when I personally fell in love with the subject of English.