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Alfonso Zapata Alfonso Zapata graduated with his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Kentucky in 2023, and has since become a full-time instructor in UK’s Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies, published a chapbook, “Together Now,” and has a poetry book, To Pay for Our Next Breath, set for release in Spring 2025. Zapata states that the Creative Writing classes and workshops he took in his M.F.A. have been deeply influential to his own teaching methods. One of the pedagogical cornerstones in his composition classes is the importance of peer feedback and the benefits of students writing on each others’ drafts. In his classes, Zapata also incorporates his passion for poetry when he teaches close reading strategies and the importance of paying attention to small details. He explains that “Everything is writing… Everything has meaning to it” and he emphasizes these lessons to his students by demonstrating how TikToks, songs, and comedic skits are all examples of modes of communication rich with meaning and purpose. Looking back on his time in the UK M.F.A. program, Zapata shares that his forthcoming poetry book “would not have existed without, specifically, UK” and that all the material comes from the work he produced during his time in the program. He goes on to say that it was classes like Hannah Pittard’s “The Art of the Sentence” that helped him develop his eye for detail and encouraged him to read more outside of his creative writing focus during his writing process. Zapata states that it was the support from the Creative Writing faculty that pushed him to send out his book, and that the encouragement he’s received at UK has had a significant impact on him and is going to stick with him for years to come. |
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Maya Pierce
She explains that a 400-level course about The Canterbury Tales that she took greatly prepared her for law school. Pierce recalls how learning to interpret and analyze the Middle English collection helped her “[prepare] to read a lot of hard texts… and develop strategies for how I will comprehend [materials] and be ready to discuss [them] at [a] deeper level.” She adds that these close reading skills were crucial to her work in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where she reviewed documents and wrote comprehensive one-page briefs for the commissioner. She also credits her experience working at the UK Writing Center as well as her English major for her proofreading skills which were advantageous during her time in the U.S. Department of Justice, where she filed motions and briefs, making sure briefs were succinct and convincing. Pierce emphasizes that scholarships such as the Trunzo and Henry Ward scholarships were gateways to invaluable internship opportunities and enriching sorority experiences, all of which played crucial roles in developing the leadership skills she relies on today. Her message to current undergraduates aspiring to pursue law is clear and inspiring: “Go after every opportunity that’s in front of you– be it scholarships, be it internships– because if you maximize your opportunities, you’re [going to] maximize your return… and end up in a career that you’re satisfied with in the long run and that you’re proud of.” |
Maya Pierce is an associate at Kirkland & Ellis, LLP having graduated from the University of Kentucky with an English major and a Political Science minor in 2020. During her time at UK, she was selected for the UK Blue program, an accelerated degree program that prepares students to complete three years of undergraduate studies followed by three years of law school. When it came to choosing her major, Pierce states that her passion for literature in high school made English “an easy choice.”