When Jenna Goldsmith was in high school she didn’t think she’d have any interest in English, now she’s back in Rockford to teach the subject after finding her passion at Rock Valley College.
Goldsmith, 35, returned to the city this summer to accept the title as lecturer of English at Rockford University, but began her journey with writing through RVC student organizations.
She graduated from Belvidere High School in 2004 and enrolled at RVC the following fall, immediately gravitating towards her writing and English courses.
Goldsmith decided to explore her newfound interest in writing by joining The Valley Forge under former faculty advisor Frank Coffman and the literary magazine, Voices.
She cites the student newspaper for her growth as a writer and exposing her to the basics of journalism.
“My interest in writing really started at Rock Valley,” Goldsmith said. “I really grew so much as a writer, I had no experience when I joined The Valley Forge.”
Goldsmith worked alongside former Editor-in-Chief, Billy Kulpa, enjoying the comradery and learning the various aspects of operating a newspaper.
“I learned a lot about what it takes to run a paper,” Goldsmith said. “It was fun being part of a group like that as well because I had really never had something like that in high school.”
She also thanks RVC professors Molly Sides, Joe Haverly, Michelle Rotert, Erin Fisher and Tim Spielman for their support and inspiration.
“They just opened up my thinking to a wider world of information,” Goldsmith said. “Being around them and absorbing information by way of being in their midst was just so huge for me.”
After graduating RVC in 2006, Goldsmith transferred to Illinois State University where she got her bachelor’s and master’s in English, then graduated from University of Kentucky with her Ph.D. in 2016.
She also has multiple published works, including a collaborative work of journal entries from Oregon State University-Cascades students and their experiences attending college during the COVID-19 pandemic with proceeds going back to the students, poetry and more.
Goldsmith began teaching after she finished her doctoral degree, working at Oregon State University-Cascades, Illinois State University in 2021-2022 and now she’s back in Rockford at RU.
She predominantly teaches introductory rhetoric courses and recognizes her own teaching habits she picked up at RVC.
“It’s fun to think about how the habits or the ways that my professors taught me at Rock Valley come out in certain ways,” Goldsmith said. “I can definitely see those influences there.”
