May 22, 2020 | By Hannah Loomis

Where are you from?

Denver, Colorado

Which book did you write on?

I wrote on the The Waves, by Virginia Woolf

What’s the title of your essay?

“Group Waves: The Indeterminacy of Identity in Virginia Woolf’s The Waves”

What was the essence of your argument?

Individual identity is part of a larger and stranger whole. There is no sharp delineation between where one’s own identity ends and the identities of others begin.

How did your essay connect to the different aspects of the Program from throughout your four years?

My advisor, Mr. Wells, and I spent a lot of time talking about the connection between our discussions of identity in The Waves and the quantum physics we were covering in senior lab. In senior lab we learn that electrons sometimes act as particles, as isolated individuals and substantial things, but sometimes electrons act as waves that interfere and overlap with each other. Woolf seems to see the identity of individuals in a similar way. Individuals sometimes are isolated ‘particles’ but at other times one’s identity interacts and interferes with the identity of others like a wave.

What was the writing process like for you?

I set out to write specifically about loss of identity. I realized early on in the writing period that my topic was far too big and I had to really focus on a couple of passages. I wrote a lot but ended up throwing most of it out, which is not a bad thing. My final paper only examines one character in three scenes and I still think I could have benefited by restricting my scope even further.

What is the most important lesson you learned during your time at St. John’s?

Nothing, absolutely nothing, is self-evident. There is no claim which does not admit, does not require, questioning and discussion. We often hold many, many things as given and don’t question our beliefs. St. John’s has taught me how to do that.