The Saint

By Grace Palazzolo, Aquinas Reporter 

Aimee Nezhukumatathil – Photo from Aquinas.edu

On Thursday Nov. 6, in the Wege Loutit room, Aimee Nezhukumatathil visited Aquinas College to speak on her writing and career path,as well as bestow some of her writing experience and aspects of her writing philosophy on the attendees. 

The event started out with an introduction from Ashlyn Armock. In this introduction she praises Nezhukumatathil for her unwillingness to confine herself to only one passion. Highlighting that multiple passions, sometimes spanning across a variety of subjects, can exist in tandem within an individual. 

The microphone was then handed over to Nezhukumatathil. She shared a bit of her background including her family life, childhood, education, and professional successes. 

Her mother was a psychologist at various sanitoriums and asylums; her and her sister were raised on the grounds of a mental institution. Although this is abnormal for most American families, Nezhukumatathil talks about her childhood fondly, reminiscing on her and her sister’s love of reading the “phobia list” that was mailed to her home once each year.  

From this love of reading the phobia list stemmed an important lesson, one that became the basis of her talk. Empathy, from Nezhukumatathil’s perspective, this is the idea that one can make, describe and embody a persona or character within the context of writing. Complete understanding of the character cannot be successfully accomplished without empathy. 

Her take on empathizing with a character was surprising to Ella Schabes, saying quote, “it wasn’t what I would have expected, I’ve never considered empathy from that angle before.”

The attendees were then directed to the main activity of the event by sharing their own phobias. Some of the “phobias” mentioned by the attendees included passing out, snakes and the gills of a mushroom. This exercise then segwayed into writing a poem about a particular phobia from a provided list. The activity began by selecting a phobia, then answering questions about the setting and general plot of the poem the attendees were writing. 

Attendees writing their poems -Photo by Grace Palazzolo

During this activity the attendees were encouraged to empathize with their character. 

“Imagine how difficult it would be to walk to class if you had a phobia of the rain,”  Nezhukumatathil said. This angle allows the writer to deepen their connection with their character. 

Nezhukumatathil ended her talk with an opportunity for the attendees to ask questions. When the topic of future careers came up she said, “be on fire for your major and future job.” Her path to her current career was not the conventional one, Nezhukumatathil started off college as a chemistry major. After reading “Mint Snowball” by Naomi Shihad Nye, Nezhukumatahil decided to switch her major to English.  

Nezhukumatahil’s parents did not understand her decision; they wanted her to become a doctor. Although becoming a doctor was the future Nezhukumatahil’s parents saw for her, this was not the future she saw for herself, she stated, “I wanted to read, I wanted to write.” Nezhukumatahil’s passion for the subject was not lost on the attendees. 

Overall, the attendees were motivated by Nezhukumatahil’s words. 

“I enjoyed the event,” freshman Thomas Kring said.  “Although I had never read any of  Nezhukumatahil’s work, I still found value in her words.”Other attendees were excited to use their newfound knowledge and passion for poetry in their personal and academic lives. 

Nezhukumatahil was available for an interview via email; she hopes that “the attendees walk away with a fun writing prompt to imagine someone else’s life.” Nezhukumatahil’s innovative take on empathy can be applied to many aspects of literature; from reading to writing, in utilizing her philosophy, an opportunity for a deeper connection with a character is born.