This month, we sat down with Lindsey Palmer, one of our writing coaches, to learn more about her role at Options.
Tell me a bit about your background.
Academically, my background is in English Literature where my research interests have included Critical Refugee Studies, Postcolonial Theory, and Environmental Justice. Professionally, I’ve worked in a variety of student-support roles at Canadian universities, from academic advising to orientations—I started with Imagine UBC as a 3rd year undergraduate student!
What makes you most excited about working at Options?
As most students I work with could tell you, I have an obsession with stories; books or movies, comics or narrative video games, I’m fascinated with what stories say (literally and between the lines!) about society. Writing university applications is often the first time we really sit down and reflect on the stories we want to tell about ourselves, our experiences, and our aspirations. I love getting to be a part of that process.
Who is your role model?
Naomi Klein, Rick Riordan, and my Nana, who makes Scrabble an art form.
If you had a theme song, what would it be?
“Would That I” by Hozier
If you could teach a university course, what would it be?
In my final year of undergrad, I was able to take a student-directed seminar on Fan Studies (analyzing fans, fandoms, fan cultures and fan activities). I would love to teach a comparison course on adapted texts from a fan studies angle—comparing the reception of Tolkien’s vs. Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, for example, or the impact of Game of Thrones on later fantasy film projects. In my opinion, the book is almost always better, but I love a good argument on the subject!
Which well-known person or fictional character would be your ideal roommate?
Detective Poirot (I think he would be tidy and encourage me to use my “little grey cells”) or maybe a hobbit (I do support second breakfast).
What’s your go-to productivity trick?
When I get stuck writing, I find it super helpful to just talk through my ideas. In the absence of a scribe, I love text-to-speech software like Otter.ai↗, which helps me get enough words on the page to overcome writer’s block!
Ready to meet a writing coach? Contact us↗ today to book in!
