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Laura Packard

English, BA

Graduated in Fall 2019

Laura has always had a passion for reading and discussing literature, so they knew before they even applied for college that they would study English. Even so, they didn’t yet have a full understanding of the field itself. Their experiences conducting research, studying abroad, and completing two co-ops led them in a direction they never would have foreseen and showed them how they could apply their major and skills in the real world.

Related Schools & Departments

Laura ’s Path

Laura spent their first semester studying in London and volunteering at the Charles Dickens Museum through NU.In.

N.U.In
Students in Technologies of Texts

They took Technologies of Texts with Professor Ryan Cordell, learning several markdown languages and R, which they later used in their co-ops.

Ryan Cordell

They participated in a Dialogue of Civilizations to France and studied French language and film.

Dialogue of Civilizations
Laura Packard and Lexi Bond

They took Literature & Digital Diversity with Professor Elizabeth Dillon, studying digital methods to analyze and archive literary texts.

Elizabeth Maddock Dillon
09/09/19 - BOSTON, MA. - Professor Erika Boeckeler looks at the Dragon Prayer Book, Northeastern’s medieval manuscript, with students Connor Hamill and Laura Packard in the Snell Library archives on Sept. 9, 2019. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Laura collaborated with Professor Erika Boeckeler to translate and digitize Northeastern’s only medieval manuscript, the Dragon Prayer Book.

Erika Boeckeler
hands holding a book

They created Decoding the Dragon, an exhibit on the project shown in Snell Library.

cengage logo

Laura had a co-op at Cengage and used markdown languages to complete documentation and automate processes.

red Northeastern sign

Laura's second co-op was at Smart Leaf as a Junior Technical Writing and Product Associate, furthering their interest in technical writing.

Northeastern sign surrounded by foliage

After graduating, Laura began working at Veson Nautical as Associate Technical Writer in March 2020, applying the skills they gained from co-op to their professional life.

“For me, English is the study of the power of words and the history of how those words have shaped the world.”

More Student Paths

Chinma Nnadozie-Okananwa

  • Law school is a big investment. That’s why Chinma was attracted to NU and the co-op process, which has allowed her to experience the legal environment before committing to the practice.
  • Chinma’s long-held love of reading and writing, specifically poetry, led to her to decision to major in English for her undergraduate education.
  • In her first year, Chinma took Early African American Literature with Professor Nicole Aljoe. It was the first time she had a Black professor and the opportunity to share lived experiences in a new way.
  • Chinma took Contemporary Poetry with Professor Eunsong Kim which explored readings that Chinma still uses today. She learned how poetry and art can affect real change, like through the Black Arts Movement.
  • Chinma is co-president of Our Voices: Women of Color, which is run through the Social Justice Resource Center and the Center for Intercultural Engagement and allows her to facilitate vital conversations.
  • Through Our Voices: Women of Color, Chinma attended Northeastern’s EMPOWER conference for students of color in 2019, where she gave a presentation about intersectionality.
  • In her second year, Chinma took Intro to Law, Policy, and Society with Professor Daniel Urman, which gave her the chance to explore the intersection between current events and law, furthering her interest...
Northeastern student Yasser Aponte works at The Food Project to help deliver fresh food to local communities in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

Yasser Aponte

  • Yasser was in the Foundation Year program at Northeastern. The program was a rigorous deep dive into core subject classes that helped Yasser bridge the gap between the high school and college experiences.
  • Initially indecisive, Yasser’s interest in traveling and experience exploring different religious texts in high school led him to a double major in international affairs and religious studies.
  • Yasser took Issues in Cities and Suburbs with Professor Erin Graves in Fall 2018. As someone deeply invested in urban life, he found the course was an enlightening look at the problems endemic to cities.
  • Yasser’s first co-op was at the Boston Beer Company as a Program Operations and Event Assistant. He worked on inventory, public relations, directed brewery events, and maintained workspace organization.
  • Yasser went on a Dialogue of Civilizations to Europe in Summer 2019 and took Engineering Principles in Nature with Professor Sandra Shefelbine.
  • Yasser implemented and maintained community gardens all over Boston on deserted plots of land during his time as the Northeastern Campus Director for the campus’ United Nations Millennium Fellowship.
  • Yasser began working at the Food Project and at a farm in Dorchester, he maintained the farm, harvested crops, distributed produce through donations and food markets, and worked on overall logistics...

Benjamin Cooper Gould

  • Cooper’s dialogue, Challenges in Coastal Sustainability, and the course Ethics and Evolutionary games with Prof. Smead have been very impactful to him.
  • As part of a class with Prof. Kelting on harm and aid he was able to write and submit real anti-racist curriculum for pre-schools in Boston.
  • Cooper has been a PPE Peer Mentor, and he has also served as the PPE representative on the CSSH Student Advisory Council for three years.
  • Cooper spent much of the summer in 2019 in Hong Kong and Malaysia on dialogue, exploring challenges for coastal sustainability.
  • Cooper has had two co-ops, the first at Boston After School & Beyond, and the second at Dynasty Financial Partners, in New York City.
  • He has conducted independent research projects with the Marine Science Center, for which he received a grant, as well as in philosophy.
  • After graduation, Cooper is hoping to specialize in education justice, first by pursuing a Master’s in Education before teaching, and ultimately going into policy...