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Honors Program

Rebekah Olsen

Rebekah Olsen
Major: English
Minor: Art History
Graduation Date: April 2022
Instagram: @beckaolsen

I'm an English major, “for the purest and dullest of reasons: because [I love] to read” and an Art History minor for much the same reasons (Jeffrey Eugenides). I love giving and receiving book recommendations and have been known to walk into low trash cans on campus because I'm incapable of putting a good book down. I also have a pencil collection to represent my travel addiction, a thrifting problem, and an on-again, off-again relationship with podcasts.

What sparked your interest in your major? 

I went on a study abroad to the London Center and then ended up in London for my mission. Spending so much time in such a literary city made me realize that talking about authors and literature and symbolism was either going to turn into my major, or be channeled into a really intense book club. I couldn't find a really intense book club, and so to the relief of all my friends, who get understandably tired of hearing about my theories on Shakespearean religious symbolism, I decided to just make English my major!

What's the best-kept secret at BYU? Why? 

The printers in the JFSB Humanities Commons are BY FAR the most reliable on campus, given that printers can smell fear, because it's always attended by a student, so if there's something wrong with it, the problem gets fixed almost instantly.

Why did you decide to join the Honors Program?

I joined the Honors Program for the Unexpected Connections classes, and they did not disappoint—I have totally loved the push towards interdisciplinary research, which has really helped me connect with my friends inside and outside of the classroom (we've been known to pull out mini-whiteboards after movie nights to illustrate a particularly tricky econ principle, for example).

What has been your favorite part of your Honors experience?

I think my favorite part of the Honors experience has been the incredible people that I've met. I think sometimes our major groups and extracurriculars can make us really insular, and without the Honors program I would never have been exposed to such a wide range of ideas as I have been throughout my Honors journey. I also have absolutely loved teaching as an Honors 120 TA—the amount of autonomy it's given me has made it possible for me to really explore and enjoy teaching as a future career path.

 What is your next step in Honors? (Specific class, thesis proposal/defense, etc.)

I'm graduating in April, so I'm almost done! I'm finishing up my thesis now, which has the working title, "'I—I can't talk about things': The Tragedy of Post-WWII Civilian Masculinity in Agatha Christie’s Taken at the Flood" and is, in all honesty, an academic excuse to read murder mysteries. I've absolutely loved working on my thesis and I'm excited to defend it in about a month!