Angela Stalcup

Writing Center Consultant

Angela grew up and went to school in Celina, Texas, and started her degree at A&M–Commerce in Fall of 2021 as an English major and is entering her final year of her undergraduate studies. A member of the Honors College, Angela is writing an honors thesis on how science fiction films can explore human nature. She is also working toward three minors (music, psychology, and philosophy). She has worked at the Writing Center since Spring of 2022. Outside of schooling, she enjoys listening to music (especially folk music), reading, hiking and spending time with family and friends.

A Conversation With Angela

What do you like about working at the Writing Center?

I love working at the Writing Center—it's become like a second home to me. I love getting to work with writers who bring their projects to us because I get to meet so many cool people from so many different backgrounds, and I always get to learn something new from them. I also love the people with whom I work! They've become some of my closest friends and I love getting to work with them to make our Writing Center run efficiently (and having fun while we do it).

What are some of your favorite things to do in Writing Center sessions?

Some of my favorite sessions are brainstorming sessions where the writer brings a prompt to me and wants help figuring out what to write about. I ask them to list out everything they're thinking on the topic while I write what they say down for them, and then I ask them to expand on those ideas. By the end of the session, we've typically got an outline for their project. I love seeing them grow more confident in themselves and their own intelligence as they tell me their ideas.

Tell us about your writing process, especially when writing gets hard?

I'm the kind of writer who word-vomits all over her page, and then goes back and cleans it up. When writing gets hard, I just write out all the thoughts I have on the topic—whether it's coherent or not—and from all of that, I can typically find my direction.

What's a writing project you're working on right now?

I'm working on a thesis for the Honors College right now! I'm writing about how certain science fiction films (specifically 2001: A Space Odyssey dir. Stanley Kubrick and Stalker dir. Andrei Tarkovsky) use sci-fi genre conventions to explore questions about humanity and human nature on a deeper level. Essentially, they use the “out-of-this-world” to explore the “of-this-world.” It's something that has fascinated me for years and I'm excited to have the opportunity to study it further!

Educational Background

• Texas A&M University–Commerce (began in Fall 2021)
• Celina High School, 2021

Awards and Honors

• Robin M. Rudoff Honors' Endowed Scholarship Recipient

Professional or Student Organizations

• Vice President of Omicron Delta Kappa (Honors Society)
• Honors College