Introducing Jen Bird

My name is Jen McDonnell. I am a senior here at CSUC; I will be graduating in May with my BA in English with Honors. I am currently working on my honors thesis, which focuses on the origin of the conflict between the Germans and the Jews. I will be staying around Chico to enter Grad School in the Spring, where I will be going for my Masters in English. I hope to end up either at CSUC , Southern Oregon University, or UC Santa Cruz teaching Women’s Lit, Contemporary Lit, or Multicultural Lit. I would also like to continue my studies in the French language and publish French to English translations, (though of what works, I don’t know).

I would love to pack up my two cats and move to Paris for a year, to be surrounded by the people, the culture, the land, the architecture. It’ll happen. But in the meantime, my roommate and I are planning a summer-long excursion to Europe, hopefully being put into action next year.

I was born and raised in Redwood City. I am incredibly close to my small family, and I try to return to them and my best friend of ten years whenever work permits it. I work at Orchard Supply Hardware, and love it. I like getting dirty, it makes me feel productive.

In my free time, when the weather permits, I try to spend as much time outside as possible. I love the sunshine. On the unfortunate occasions when I am forced to retreat indoors, I spend my time reading, writing prose and opinionated blogs on Myspace, painting, playing guitar with my roommate and best friend, or watching movies (foreign films and dramas are my favorite). I also love spending hours in The Bookstore digging up cheap hidden gems.