Skyler Bartell is a senior from Vinton, Virginia, majoring in English with a concentration in publishing and editing. Currently, she is an intern for Roanoke Review and is involved with several religious groups on campus, including Young Life. Beginning in her Freshman year, she has been a Maroon Ambassador, though she is taking a break this semester and will return to give tours in the spring. On being a Maroon Ambassador, Skyler said, “Meeting a lot of people who were so close in age to [me] and seeing that they don’t really have much of a plan for their life had honestly made me feel better about the fact that I don’t really know what I’m going to do after college. [Also,] My bosses were really helpful in I didn’t know we had so many different majors until I worked in admissions. And then one of the women who worked at the front desk was really encouraging of my English education, so then I went into that. People started bringing up teaching, and I didn’t want to teach for a very long time, because kids throw up, and that’s utterly terrifying. In general, meeting people was really good to see [and recognizing that] we’re all growing.”
Since it’s become an unexpected tradition, Skyler’s favorite scents are the drying machine right after a load of laundry, especially with dryer sheets, and Sharpies.
“This past summer, I did my May Term with Dr Garrison, [which] was the one that was basically like Dungeons and Dragons, you know, the choose your own adventure [CYOA] one. I’d never read a [CYOA] story, or written one myself. I actually wrote a specific [CYOA] story as our big project that we had to do on One Direction. Yeah, I wrote a choose your own adventure on if your mom sells you to One Direction. So I really enjoyed it!”
Talking about a specific tour she gave, “I had this family come in, the kid was an only child, and both of his parents were there. So we’re on the tour, and he was really interested in OA, and I knew nothing about OA. Well, we’re not supposed to go too far off track, because you’re supposed to stay within an hour. But I’m sitting here like, ‘Okay, I know that OA is in the bottom of Bast, so I guess I could go show them.’ I had no clue where I was going. I had to ask a janitor. So the four of us are walking through Bast, and I don’t know where I’m at because I’ve hardly been in the building. Then they’re like, ‘We also hear that there’s a pool here’, so we basically got lost in Bast.”
There are three things that, as all of her friends know well, are central to the one and only Skyler Bartell: her mom is her best friend in the entire world – they call each other several times a day; then at least 12 times a day, she is going to talk about a man in a book and call a hot stranger her husband (just to her friends of course); and she absolutely loves books – especially those by Sarah J. Maas and those that are fantasy, horror, romance, and/or anything with dragons.
“I would like to thank my parents, brother, friends, and Karole Passmore in Admissions!”
Juniper Rogers
Folks at ‘Noke Editor
