Paige Morris
You might know me as:
Your friendly, neighborhood Writing Fellow and Independent Studies coordinator, a.k.a. the one Black person in your writing workshop, a.k.a. avid collector and staff member of most student publications, a.k.a. whose small child is this? Alternately, you might know me as any one of the five Black girls wandering the campus with the same braided hairstyle.
When I’m at Brown, you can find me at …
The Curricular Resource Center, the Brown Center for Students of Color, on a couch somewhere napping with my mouth open, running frantically from one thing to the next despite having incredibly short legs.
My Brown experience in six words.
A dream inseparable from tough realities.
Favorite class/ professor at Brown
Introduction to Ethnic Studies changed my life for the better and taught me how to begin to learn and ask about people like me in a classroom. As for professors—literature-lovers who want to have transformative discussions about race and history in literature, please do yourselves a favor and take a class with Daniel Kim!
Things I wish I knew when I came to Brown
It’s not your fault that you don’t already know everything. It’s okay to say “no.” It’s okay to critique this place and the people here, even if you love them. You deserve to be here. Your presence on this campus is the result of an ongoing struggle, and you need to make sure everything you do is committed to making Brown and the world a better place for other people like you to be.
My favorite Brown memory is…
My whole freshman year, honestly, and all of the life-changing and ridiculous conversations I had with friends in the Jameson Lounge or in any of our rooms. I think it’s really telling that every time I think about that first year, there’s a pre-arranged montage ready to go in my head, complete with a light, summery soundtrack. It really was like a movie. Even when I struggled, I struggled with an upbeat pop score and good cinematography.
My most embarrassing Brown memory is…
I mean, I am a perpetual embarrassment to myself and others, but if I had to choose one memory … there was that time I went home for Thanksgiving break sophomore year and got most of my hair cut off in a moment of second-year recklessness, but I was not at all prepared for my hair to grow out so wildly and in so many different directions, so I spent a good 90 percent of that year, I kid you not, wearing a variety of hats from day to day to hide the growing-out process. I wore hats no matter the weather, in classes, at meals, everywhere. It was a rough time.
What I will miss most here next year is…
The people—the incredible friends and mentors and change-makers I’ve met here. In true Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff hybrid fashion, I’ll also miss the chance to sit in classes and have reading and writing and learning be embedded in each day. Lowkey, catch me back on campus in the next few years, auditing everything. I’m that alum.
My go-to order in the Blue Room is..
A cinnamon roll or corn muffin if I’m balling on a budget. A vanilla Odwalla and a simple sandwich on a French roll with a ton of ham, lettuce, and balsamic vinaigrette, if one of my dear friends on meal plan is sponsoring me that day.
In my time at Brown, I am most proud of…
Making it to graduation! I’m seriously proud of having done this whole college thing, and having done it quite well, I think, despite the odds. I’m proud of the classes I’ve taken, the knowledge I’ve been able to take in so far, the work I’ve put in to get that knowledge, the friends I’ve made, the causes I’ve stood behind, the changes I’ve made, and how much I’ve grown. I’m also proud of other students who struggled alongside me, and are still here, too, despite it all.
Brown’s best kept secret?
I feel like it’s not a secret, but it’s often treated like some kind of myth or something that ~students in decades past~ have done but that no one really does anymore—y’all do know you can make your own classes (and concentrations) at Brown, right? Get to the Curricular Resource Center, on the second floor of Faunce! There’s tea and nice student staffers and comfy chairs, as well as a bunch of good info on how to study independently at Brown! It’s so much fun and such a worthwhile experience if you have something you’re passionate about and Brown’s course offerings just aren’t cutting it for you. I highly encourage you to think about doing the thing!
My post-graduation plans are to...
Eat unhealthy amounts of McDonald’s daily and hang out with my parents until I start my year as a Fulbright scholar, teaching in South Korea! I haven’t thought too far ahead of that, but I know I want to continue to channel my love for creative arts and education into work that has social impact for communities at the margins of society. Who knows—maybe I’ll give this whole school thing another shot, too, and go right back to living a life of sleep deprivation and the pursuit of knowledge.
Andrew's question: What was your naughtiest moment at Brown?
I'm laughing right now because this feels like a very Andrew question, but I’m also laughing because my answer is probably every time I have been at a party when a Nicki Minaj song came on and I surrendered all control of my body to a force greater than myself in order to scream the lyrics at anyone who happened to be standing near me. This is naughty for me because my mother once sent me a very concerned email about my Facebook cover photo, which, at the time, was an image of a sunrise with the words, “All these bitches is my sons,” at the center. She made me promptly remove the offending photo from my profile, but this has not stopped me from being able to rap the entirety of Nicki’s Pink Friday album, as well as her “Bottoms Up,” “Monster,” and “Flawless (Remix)” verses.
Next up: Fred Mezidor
Paige's question: What was the coolest thing you did away from College Hill during your time as a student here?