“What I felt was a sense of community. Most of the students were wearing Northwest gear, and I’d been on a couple college campuses before and I don’t think I’ve ever seen such school spirit. … Then we walked over to the International Flag Plaza, and again I’ve never seen anything like it before, so that was another sense of inclusion.”
Vilune Sestokaite
Writing with a professional writing emphasis
Graduating Class: 2017
Hometown: Lee’s Summit, Missouri
Major: Writing with a professional writing emphasis
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Vilune developed connections in Northwest’s Department of Language, Literature and Writing that deepened her interest in writing and enormous opened opportunities that included networking with professional writers who visited Northwest as part of its Visiting Writers Series.
“Every time I’d be waiting for that author to get on campus because I liked interviewing. I liked interacting with them. I liked reading their manuscripts and having the whole department come together and be with that professor or that author. We gave them a welcoming environment and got to know them on a personal level, not as an author but as a friend.”
She immigrated from Lithuania to the United States with her mother, sister and grandmother when she was 4. Now, as the first in her family to attend and graduate from a four-year university, she still fondly recalls her initial visit to the Northwest campus during a recruiting trip.
In the fall, Vilune will begin pursuing her Master of Arts in English with a concentration in creative nonfiction at Kansas State University. She aspires to launch her career in editing and publishing after completing her degree.
