Spring English Awards

Vanessa is the oldest of twelve kids and this is her second career. Before she went back to college, Vanessa ran the family business, Banks School Supply. However, COVID killed the family business in 2020 and she knew at that point that she wanted something different. The switch from school supplies to teaching was an easy choice because she has always loved kids and learning, so it made sense to choose a career that combined the two. Her hope is to become an excellent teacher who can inspire her siblings and students to always pursue their dreams and become the best version of themselves.

Abby is an English graduate is an Outstanding English major emphasizing in Rhetoric & Writing. Their achievements include being an editor of the UCCS literary and arts journal, riverrun, a reporter and managing editor for The Scribe, and a writing consultant for the Excel Writing Center. Abby plans to continue editorial work after graduation and pursue graduate studies in English.

During her time at UCCS, Carrie had spent time in a variety of majors trying to decide what she wanted, but ended where she began: English Rhetoric and Writing, unexpectedly accompanied by a minor in Criminal Justice. As far as involvement on campus, she had worked as an Orientation Leader welcoming new students since Fall 2021 and had been a club officer of the newly founded Active Minds Chapter at UCCS since Fall 2022. In addition to this, her creative nonfiction piece, Xanthophile, will be included in Riverrun Volume 50. After graduating from UCCS, Carrie will be continuing her education at Colorado State University earning her Masters in English specializing in Writing, Rhetoric, and Social Change.

Dan Sweeney has the soul of an ancient adventurer. He has backpacked over two-thousand miles along various National Scenic Trails within the United States. Additionally, he has logged more than three-hundred thousand bicycle miles throughout the southwest. His adventures have been featured in the periodicals Military Times and VFW Magazine. Dan is also a lifelong learner pursuing broader world perspectives. He dreams that undiscovered countries lie within carefully crafted rhetoric. However, because dreams are confined and restrained by societal pressures and financial needs, Dan devoted two and a half decades to military service. As a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, he has earned numerous professional awards and is most proud of his master’s thesis being published and named paper of the year in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health. Currently, he lives on the far side of Pikes Peak in Florissant, Colorado with his wife, Elizabeth, and dog, Chewy.