With her heart pounding, Bri Narick, a senior English major at Hastings College, stepped out of class to answer a call she had been anticipating. It was the moment she would find out if she’d made it into her dream program at the University of Florida (UF). She answered the call with a shake in her voice. She’d been accepted.
“I nearly screamed,” Narick said.
Narick’s graduate concentration is on protest literature and how literature can act as a protest, using Gothic archetypes as another point of interest.
She’s planning to become a professor herself through this program.
To assist with her career goal, Narick will coach the university’s speech team before becoming a teaching assistant in her last two years of the program.
She said she couldn’t have gotten this far alone.
“Most of my credit has to go to the Department of Languages and Literatures,” she said. “Our staff is incredibly intuitive, and have a genuine care and concern for students’ futures.”
Narick went on to praise departments around campus, how they assisted with anything and everything she has done in her time at Hastings College, and how the professors prioritize their connection with students.
While undergraduate programming has pushed Narick above and beyond, she is now ready to give back. “I want to prioritize making English a passionate and intricate experience for undergraduates, the same way Hastings College did for me,” she said.
Narick had been a heavy hitter in forensics (speech) throughout her time at Hastings, having placed 6th in poetry interpretation at the national level of forensics in the 2024-25 school year. With her achievements in hand, and confidence up, she decided her senior year should be more in tune with her future needs and wants. Despite her love for the team, she stepped away.
By slowly pulling away from one of her biggest commitments, Narick was able to focus on editing and revising for both her graduate applications and her coursework. She focused more deeply on her studies, determined to make her final year at Hastings College her strongest.
Stepping back from forensics also allowed her to run for and win the position of president of Sigma Tau Delta, the English honors society at Hastings College. This allowed her to further build her support system and be in charge, while still working in a team setting.
Narick has proven herself time and time again, pushing past her greatest struggles and succeeding. “When I started the application process for grad programs, it was grueling, and easy to feel like I wasn’t knowledgeable enough.”
She encourages everyone to keep going, especially when things seem hard or scary. “If you need help, reach out to a professor or your peers,” she said.
“Bri is a community builder,” said Dr. Eleanor Reeds, associate professor of English and Narick’s course advisor. “Becoming president of our English honors society merely cemented her role as a leader within the department. She demonstrates a voracious intellectual curiosity and a constant desire to challenge herself, which inspires both peers and faculty. Her potential to contribute to academia is astounding, yet I am sure she will continue to adapt and grow.”