One of seven kids, Kathleen Waites was raised in a strong Catholic environment by parents who saw education as a priority. Growing up in Levittown, a suburb outside of Philadelphia, Waites recognized all the sacrifices her parents made to provide their children with the best education possible.
“My parents were wonderful because, even though they were poor, they paid and got all their children through Catholic school. As a result we got a pretty good education,” said Waites.
In an area where most kids didn’t do well in school or ended up getting in trouble, Waites felt that the education her and siblings received is what lead them to graduate from high school and seek college degrees.
After high school, Waites felt a calling to participate in social justice missions, so she entered a convent. Besides preparing Waites for a career in social work, the convent also paid for her education.
“It was the John F. Kennedy era. You know, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.’ And I was also Catholic,” said Waites. “So if you were a girl, you went into the convent or, if you were a boy, you went into the priesthood.”
It was in her English classes, both in high school and college, that she found a love for literature.
“I had English teachers, both were nuns, and both were very strict. But there was something about their passion for literature and reading that ignited my own,” said Waites.
Instead of just reading, Waites was taught to think about stories which, she felt, helped her acquire a better understanding of people.
“When you read a book or study literature, you are really studying the human experience. What it’s like to be a man and a woman, what it’s like to feel jealousy and rage, and what it’s like to suffer and experience loss and grief,” said Waites.
Because the stories were about real people, Waites, felt she learned more from her English and literature classes than she did from any
other subject.
While in the convent, Waites attended Holy Family College in Philadelphia, where she graduated with a bachelor’s in English.
After four years, Waites left the convent and did social work in an orphanage. Even then, she felt something was missing and went back to school to continue her passion for studying English literature.
“I had no idea what I was going to do with this degree. Was I going to be a writer? Was I going to be a teacher? All I knew was that I had to study literature,” said Waites.
After graduating with a master’s in English from Villanova University, Waites received an assistantship position at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln that allowed her to teach and earn her doctoral degree at the same time.
At that time, being a mother of two, combined with the studying and teaching, proved to be a challenge for Waites. After a lot of hard work and dedication, Waites received her doctorate in English and women’s studies.
Once she graduated, Waites applied for many teaching positions and was offered a job at NSU in 1987.
Twenty-six years later, Waites is still a professor teaching classes in American literature, gendered images in pop culture, film, creative writing, and even graduate -level classes in memoir writing. She also found time to write her own memoir about her time in the convent, titled “Particular Friendships: A Convent Memoir.”
Based on her experiences, Waites has advice for students confused about what they should study or what career they should pursue.
“I have a sense, and I know it sounds like a cliché, but if you follow your heart and follow what you really are interested in and care about, that will lead you down the path to a happy career,” said Waites.
