An English Conversation: Meeting with Katelyn Ho

Meet Katelyn Ho, a 2025 Biola English and Torrey Honors Student. A senior literature concentration, Katelyn has made herself known for her variety of articles published on Story Warren, a Christian online magazine dedicated to literature and imagination. To check them out for yourself, check out our post “Bookish Believers.” 

This interview was edited for clarity and conciseness.

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

Katelyn Ho: When I was applying for school and trying to figure out what I wanted to major in, I had a mentor from my church who was an English major. She mentioned how the skills that you gain — critical thinking and just being able to read well, and think well, and discuss well — are all good skills to have, especially when it comes to evangelism or even thinking about the kind of person you want to become. So I decided to be an English major, not because I felt like I particularly enjoyed reading and writing at the time, but that I just wanted to be better at it. 

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

K: I really liked Dr. Wang's Victorian novel class. I took it my sophomore spring. This might sound a bit sacrilegious as an English major, but up to that point, I had never read any Victorian novels or classics. In that class, the first novel we read was Jane Eyre, and it was the first Victorian novel I ever read. I loved it! 

K: I just loved the way that Dr. Wang taught the class. It might sound like an exaggeration, but I really think Jane Eyre changed my life. It made me feel like I could actually read classics: they weren't super obtuse, that they are actually relevant, and the stories are amazing, and I loved the kinds of discussions [we had] and how collaborative the class was. 

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

K: I do appreciate how our English professors encourage us [in] bringing our faith [in] talking about the text and really encourage us to think biblically about the ideas we're encountering. I also appreciate how they remind us that when it comes to reading books or texts as a Christian, we don't immediately dismiss something just because the ideas we encounter aren’t Christian. To think Christianly about a text isn't necessarily [to think] “what’s biblical, what’s not biblical,” and whatever is not biblical, we should ignore it and not think about it. I appreciate how they actually force us to get in the headspace of people we disagree with and actually try to think critically about where they're coming from and how that could fit into, or not, with the Christian worldview.

It's been beneficial for my faith in that it's forced me to actually wrestle with ideas and people that I disagree with, instead of just dismissing them, and actually understanding where they're coming from — not at the expense of my beliefs, but to strengthen them.

What have you been reading lately?

K: If I'm gonna be honest, I haven't been reading as much as I wanted to — at least outside of school. The kinds of things I'm reading right now have mainly been for school. I'm in a Steinbeck class with Dr. Malandra; we’re reading Travels with Charley. I just read Waiting for Godot for a class with Dr. Wang. It's very weird and strange. I guess we get another example of interacting with ideas I don't agree with, but [are] fortunate to think about them.