Jasmina Cunmulaj, Double Major in Developmental Psychology and English Literature
Next step for Jasmina: Masters of Public Health at the University of Michigan School of Public Health
What is your best Detroit Mercy memory?
Becoming a Teaching Assistant for Professor [Nick] Rombes Creative Writing Class was one of my best memories. I loved getting to spend time with other students, watching them expand their knowledge, and also learn from Professor Rombes’s great creative writing experience.
What has been most valuable or surprising about your experience in the English department?
As cliché as it may sound, I truly did find “myself” in college. Specifically, I found myself in the English department. Professors believed in me when I thought the opposite for myself, and always encouraged me to go further than my comfort zone. Each professor had their own specific genre of preference, and each continuously taught with an undeniable passion; this is what made the English department so special. Students were not numbers, but rather individuals. In the English department I became a part of one big family and this is one of the hardest things, I have found, about leaving Detroit Mercy.
What is one class you took or book you read that you will remember when you are 70? Why?
Class, Race, Gender is a class that I continuously refer back to in daily life. While many of my classes can be applied to things I encounter on a daily basis, the RELS class taught by Dr. [Hsiao-Lan] Hu really shifted my perspective on the way I view class, race, and gender within the world. It has opened my perspective to a new world, almost like someone had removed the wool from over my eyes. More specifically, I like to refer back to a lot of things I learned in this class and tell other people, so that they too can understand that there is a dimensional aspect to having a perspective, not just a one-sided approach.
What is one thing you want to have done or seen or accomplished by your 20th college reunion?
By my 20th college reunion, I would like to have opened up non-profit clinics in the Balkans that serve to provide mental health and medical services for women and children who were affected by the war over the past few decades. Hopefully become a working member of the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO) as well. On a lighter note, I would love to have visited at least 10 places on my bucket list!
What are you proudest of in your college career?
I am proudest of my ability to overcome obstacles that seemed impossible to challenge in my Freshman and Sophomore years. I felt as though I was lost in my college career, and had an unsalvageable track record already. My grades dropped and I had a sense of anxiety that constantly clouded over me. When I stumbled into the English department, I found a sanctuary that brought me in and guided me back to a more promising and hopeful path. I am proudest of my ability to overcome these things because not only did I finish strong, but also finished with two different majors with the help of many professors. This is something I will never forget, and something I like to consider to be the monumental point in my undergraduate career.
What do you want to learn about next?
I would like to continue expanding my knowledge by entering into the public health field focus primarily on global health.
What is your favorite quote/motto?
“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” – Mother Teresa
Between the Pages 