An English Conversation: Meeting with Chase Kelly

Meet Chase Kelly, an English literature major of class 2025!

Chase grew up in Malibu, California, and loves to play a bunch of different sports. He also loves the ocean, which led to his work as a lifeguard with the California State Parks in 2018 and with the Los Angeles County Fire Department in 2023. When he’s not in classes, people can find him tucked in a corner of the Library. 

This interview was edited for clarity and conciseness.

---

What led you to pick the English major at Biola University?

Chase Kelly: I don't know what I want to do after school and I enjoy reading and writing. I felt that learning how to read and write well will prepare me for just about any job I want, and a good life. 

What was the favorite class or experience you had as a Biola English major? 

C: Where do I start? I have to say my favorite memory comes from a Dr. Aaron Kleist class. 

C: Last year in the spring, he had some holes in his shoes, so he would walk around class barefoot and that was very fun. Then we also got to throw eggs at him in another class. It was a British Lit class. 

You also organized the shoe fundraiser to get him the shoes, talk more about that. 

C: Dr. Kleist is a household name here at Biola English and is a fan favorite of us English students. Last winter it was an El Niño winter, so it was raining a lot. He had a class in the basement of Rose and it flooded down there so they moved him, and then he had holes in his shoes so his feet were always wet. I got him new shoes with the help of a lot of other English majors. It was really fun. 

How has Biola English shaped the way you engage with your faith?

C: I think it forces you to have conversations with a plethora of different lenses and views: taking critical theory, and then some other more specific classes where you're looking at literature from a certain lens and then applying it to texts, and then having conversations about the text with that lens and incorporating faith has been very nice and enjoyable. 

What have you been reading lately? 

C: Can I say a book that I want to start but haven't? There's a book called The Monkey Wrench Gang. It's about the west and this group of people fighting back against the encroachment of oil companies. I read the back of it a while ago, but I need to get it for Christmas.