Alivia Cunningham’s affection for books can be traced back to her days as a “library kid.” Then there was falling in love with Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – and the Leonardo DiCaprio poster to prove it.

But what self-professed literature nerd would pursue a degree at a technical college? The humanities are reserved for four-year universities, right?

Ahem.

Alivia Cunningham would like to change your mind.

Introduce us to little girl Alivia and how she came to love books.

My parents used to take me and my two sisters to the library all the time. My dad had this rule where you had to check out five books, and one of them had to be something about geography. What eight-year-old wants to read about Uganda?! It was weird.

We were also late to technology, so all we did was read books – from graphic novels like Diary of a Wimpy Kid to chapter books like Junie B. Jones. My mom used to call me Bossy R. I guess it’s a nickname deserved. Being the oldest and most competitive, I’ve suffered from Big Sister Syndrome my whole life!

But my literary world really opened up in eighth grade English class, when we read Romeo and Juliet. We acted it out and watched the Leonardo DiCaprio version of the movie. And for the first time, I was introduced to a world of language I did not know existed. With Junie B. Jones, what’s on the page is what’s on the page. But with Shakespeare, it’s so nuanced, and I fell in love with that.

For probably ten years throughout high school and college, I kept the Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes movie poster up in my room. Every time I got overwhelmed or felt like I couldn’t do something, I’d look at that poster and think, I’ve gotta do it for Shakespeare!

I declared English as my major shortly after starting at Midlands Tech, and when we read and analyzed complex texts, I was like, “This is so fun to me! If I can do this for the rest of my life – for money – that’s what I want to do.”

A lot of people assume technical colleges aren’t a fit for arts or humanities students. How did your experience challenge that?

Initially, I believed that too. In high school, I was very involved in extracurriculars, and I thought Midlands wouldn’t have much for me. But I joined the Student Ambassador Assembly, which allowed me to be an orientation leader and mentor for other students, as well as a volunteer at local events. I also attended the humanities conference both years I was there, where I worked on a year-long project, presented my work, and made connections with professors and other leaders.

All my experiences at the technical college level were things I ended up using later to get my bachelor’s degree from Columbia College and now my master’s from Clemson.

It sounds like you didn’t figure out Tech’s value for humanities students until you were already there.

That’s right. I actually chose Tech for really normal reasons. Coming out of high school, I was intimidated by big schools like USC. I didn’t feel like they would be the best place for me. I also worked at Target for four years, and being at Midlands Tech made it manageable for me to work a part-time job and get an education at the same time.

And then there’s the affordability. I had to confront the common stereotype that I wasn’t smart enough to get into a four-year – which was not true at all. But in an interesting twist, it actually was about smarts – financial smarts. I took the exact same classes for a much lower price.

What was your transfer to Columbia College like?

The work ethic was a little bit more rigorous, but that’s also because I was entering as a junior and in the latter half of my degree program. I focused on the specialization of English American Literature, so I was taking four classes of English and one arts class. (That’s also when I fell in love with Edith Wharton!)

Looking back, there were two things that made my transfer smooth, and I always recommend them to other students:

(1) Get your associate degree. A lot of students transition to a university without it, but the more credits you have going into your four-year program, the sooner you’ll get out. If I hadn’t gotten my associate’s, I would have been at Columbia for 2½ or 3 years, but I was able to finish in two.

2) Be sure you know how to get your special topics classes from Tech credited towards your degree at your four-year institution. I was fortunate because I had saved all my English syllabi, and the Dean of English was able to review them and approve the credits I needed.

Two years – and one 27-page prospectus – after leaving Midlands, you entered Clemson’s master’s program and stepped into a teaching assistant role. What have you learned about yourself on this leg of your educational journey?

One surprising thing I’ve learned is that I love science fiction. Sci-fi authors like Octavia Butler have written books that are so ahead of their time. Whether they focus on eco-criticism or scientific advancements or technological futures, they’re cautionary tales for us about what is lost when we rely on technology to do our critical thinking.

Being a teaching assistant has also been really informative for me. I want to tell young, impressionable students that humanities are important. Reading is important. Comprehension is important. And the empathy that we gain from those experiences is so, so important.

The more you read literature from different perspectives, the more you’re able to put yourself in the shoes of people that, otherwise, you will never be or may never encounter. Literature facilitates that for me and makes me want to be a better person, a better activist, and someone who can help change the world.