Savannah Duursema ’26

I have a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies with an English concentration and Psychology minor. I have enjoyed the many opportunities during my time at Eastern. I had the privilege of working with Dr. Allison Speicher for three semesters on my Honors thesis, and Dean Emily Todd when I travelled to the MLA conference with her in January 2026, along with the countless professors I have had over the years that inspired me with their passion for their fields. Some of my most memorable moments have been the multiple conferences that I have been privileged to share my thesis work at. Besides the Eastern CREATE conference, I have also gone to the COPLAC conference and MLA conference funded through Eastern, as well as Eastern's English Night.

I also went on the Florence, Italy Creative Writing trip Summer of 2024 which was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The Honors program has prepared me by constantly encouraging a growth mindset on every new topic I encountered. Some topics of the colloquia were less of my interest than others, but I dived into the various disciplines and learned a lot. As a future teacher, the program prepared me to embrace new learning approaches and find interest in many topics which will help me better relate to my students.

Iam currently in the Education Early Start program for Elementary Education, meaning that I started my Master’s program the last semester of my Senior year. I will come out with my Master’s in May 2027 and am excited to become a teacher that fall!”