Prepared to Teach, Inspired to Lead: Olivia Stowell ’21 MA is Fueled by Her Villanova Graduate Experience

When Olivia Stowell ’21 MA stepped into her first teaching assignment at the University of Michigan (which also happened to be in a 350-seat lecture hall), it easily could have overwhelmed her.

Instead, she was prepared.

Mentorship, classroom experience and faculty support in Villanova University’s graduate English program shaped not only how she teaches, but how she came to understand herself as an educator.

“I love teaching; I really, really love it,” Stowell said. “I think one of the things that was valuable about my Villanova experience was the way it prepared me.”

Currently a PhD candidate in the University of Michigan’s Communication and Media program, Stowell is taking the next steps in her educational and professional career, conducting research on the intersections of reality TV, gender and race, in addition to teaching. It was at Villanova where she became energized by higher education, and she credits her strong faculty mentors and time well spent in the Villanova Writing Center with providing her with the tools to be successful in a teaching career.

But it wasn’t just program resources that gave Stowell an advantage. She said Villanova gave her also access to faculty who provided her with foundational mentorship.

“I got a lot of investment from a lot of different faculty members who really helped me with my intellectual development and my intellectual formation,” Stowell said. “They were super supportive of the ways that I was trying to chase the things that really interested me.”

Stowell built meaningful connections with faculty members who encouraged her to explore different areas of her research and develop herself as a scholar. While she received mentorship from the entire English department, she highlights her advisor, Kamran Javadizadeh, PhD, as someone who guided her and remains a mentor, even as she pursues her doctoral degree at another university. It’s proof that even after a student leaves Villanova, the community of care continues.

Once Stowell decided she wanted to pursue her PhD, her mentors provided the support and the systems she would need to embark on this journey. Stowell believes the program’s introduction to life as a scholar was the difference maker.

“I feel like the program really did a good job of orienting me to the world of academic life,” Stowell said. “Like what it looks like to go to conferences, what it looks like to present and publish research—they really prepared me to be in a much better position for where I am now, submitting articles and drafting my book proposal.”

Stowell’s Villanova classroom experience provided her with an opportunity to challenge herself and bring ideas to a space where they could grow alongside people who share in her passions.

“There's like a real fusion of genuine curiosity and high-level intellectual development without ever leaving behind the sense of who you are,” Stowell said.  “Whoever you're interacting with is bringing all of themselves to the table. I think that is a good environment for intellectual growth to flourish.”