Hi everyone! My name is Cat O’Brien. Generally, when I introduce myself to people, one of two things happens. First, if I am talking to a kid (or young adult if you take the title “kid” offensively) they accept my name and make a small joke about being an animal. If I am talking to an adult though, they almost always say, “Oh, is that short for something?” Somehow adults have a hard time accepting that someone would actually be named Cat. Well, much to my dismay it is not my real name. Catherine Ruth O’Brien is the name my parents gave me when I was born but I have not gone by Catherine in years.

I am a sophomore here at Loyola University of Chicago and I love it! I grew up in the small town of Richland Michigan and after high school I was ready for something more exciting than the corn fields and cows that Richland offered. Don’t get me wrong, I love and appreciate where I grew up (probably more since moving away) but I would not trade the experience of living in Chicago for anything.

After a little internal debate freshman year I have decided to major in Secondary Education and English with a minor in ESL studies. All that means is that I want to teach high school English and be able to help out students who have English as their second language. I have taken mostly core thus far in my college career but the few Education classes that I have taken have made me very excited for my future as a teacher.

This semester I am taking my first ESL class, two English classes, and three core classes. That amounts to eighteen credits and some stressful nights trying to get all the homework and studying done. At the end of the day though the hard work usually pays off with a decent grade.