Meet Katie Neipris | English Professor, Ph.D. Candidate, & Writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katie Neipris and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Now I think of it as work-work balance. As I divide my time between my dissertation, upcoming publications, tutoring, and teaching, I increasingly find that I tend to prioritize things that affect others before things that affect only myself, which means that I leave my “own” work until the end. Instead of trying to carve out time “just for me,” I try to find ways to relax while fulfilling productive tasks: walking the dog, working out, cooking. I’m really bad at turning my brain off, so I try to just let the ideas percolate in the background. Lately I have started disallowing myself from leaving my phone on the nightstand; reading a physical book before bed instead of reading an e-book or articles on my phone makes a huge difference to my mental well-being!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
This year I was overjoyed to receive an adjunct professor position at Orange Coast College, where I teach freshman English. I am also working on my dissertation and teach and tutor grades 5-16. Working with so many students of different ages every day has not only honed my teaching skills, but allowed me to understand the multifaceted inequities plaguing our educational system. My community college students, UCSD undergraduates, high schoolers, sixth-grade rhetoric class, and fifth-grade language arts class all have vastly different needs and expectations for their educational experience, and as their instructor it is my responsibility to not only adequately prepare them for the challenges ahead, but also connect them with the resources designed to help them grow as people and as writers.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Post-COVID, I am looking forward to inviting friends to San Diego to hike Mission Trails and the Elfin Forest! We’ll visit North Park’s Verbatim Books and grab some carne asada fries from Colima’s, then head to the Florida Canyon preserve. The Coronado dog beach is always a must-visit! My favorite COVID experience so far has definitely been whale watching with Gone Whale Watching. Captain Dom is the best!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The Society for American Baseball Research has given me so many opportunities to advance my scholarship, speak in front of scholars far more knowledgeable than myself, and share my writing with brilliant thinkers who offer honest critiques and thoughtful feedback.