Photo by matt d'annunzio

Danielle Juncal ’15

English

Hometown: San Clemente, California

Who I was when I got to Reed: My high school was huge and I felt out of place. I came to Reed and found a place that embraced me. I wanted to embrace it back.

How Reed changed me: I used to speak in class only when I knew I was right. Now, my best contributions to conversations are in the form of questions or things I want to explore. Reed taught me that it’s okay to not understand; curiosity is celebrated! I learn best when I’m sharing thoughts aloud with others and spitballing ideas in a group.

Word to prospies: Remember that what you do outside of the classroom can change you just as much as what you do inside the classroom. 

Influential professor: Prof. Lisa Steinman [English 1976– ] taught me to close read with a keen eye, share ideas big and small, and love poetry both critically and tenderly. Lisa helped me realize that not every thought needed to be polished; that it’s normal to ask questions, have a half-baked thought, and just give out some impressions.

Influential piece of music I encountered at Reed: The Talking Heads’ album Stop Making Sense has been an anthem for many of my moments at Reed. 

A concept that blew my mind: Student autonomy. 

Outside the classroom: Student body president. Coeditor-in-chief of the Reed College Creative Review. Tutor at the writing center. House adviser. Wrote for the Quest.

Thesis: Japanese American Internment Poetry: Lawson Inada’s and Mitsuye Yamada’s Re-Mappings of Memory and Identity

What it’s about: Poetry written by Japanese Americans about the Japanese internment camp experience during World War II is a unique type of historical testimony. This poetry reconfigures the memory of their confinement as a creative source to redeem a new Japanese American subjectivity.

What it’s really about: Rewriting history with badass, intersectional feminism and jazz poetics.

What’s next: I’m the new project manager in Reed’s public affairs office.