CCS was honored to showcase 50 individuals and activities during our 50th Anniversary in 2017-2018 to share our rich history. Take a look at the amazing people responsible for making our unconventional College possible! 

Kailyn Kausen is a second year CCS Writing and Literature student with dreams of becoming a fiction author. Kausen shares her decision to come to CCS, her passion for writing, and her experience at the College.

CCS: How did you find out about CCS and why did you choose to attend the  College?
 
Kailyn Kausen: When I was touring college campuses with my older sister (she’s one year older), my mom found a pamphlet with information about CCS on it. I was thinking about creative writing, but I wasn’t sure that was what I wanted to do yet. That pamphlet went into a college folder for a couple years. My sister ended up choosing UCSB, but didn’t have an interest in CCS. When it came my turn to pick, I was set on UC Berkeley, but my parents wanted me to choose the same college as my sister. I got into Berkeley and CCS, and had recently decided I wanted to pursue creative writing. Berkeley was my dream school, but CCS had the writing program. I tried to look up more information about CCS online, but there was very little about what it was like to be a CCS student, so my mom set up a meeting with Sara Sterphone [a CCS Student Advisor] about what exactly ‘no units’ and ‘graduate program for undergraduates’ meant, and why the (old) Literature program had been on hiatus and the major was being revamped. Sara invited us to sit in on a class. Two students from the class answered many of my questions. When we left, my mom said, “You’ve finally found your people.” And the decision had been made. I haven’t ever regretted it, never looked back.
 

CCS: How has CCS shaped your life at UCSB? 
 
KK: CCS is everything. I don’t know who I would be or what sort of student I would be if it weren’t for CCS. It gets your foot in the door and allows you insane opportunities. It’s my second year and I have  been already to two conferences paid for and facilitated by the College, going to a third in July, served on a highly respected committee, and, because of the pass/no pass units, have had the freedom to take an insane amount of classes with little risk or fear of failure–and even then there are more I want to take.
 
The Writing and Literature program has made me more confident in my work. The hands-on aspect of the classes allow me to get direct feedback from professors curated to my future goals, and the CCS community allows me and my work to be recognized in a way that doesn’t feel like mass-produced feedback.
 

CCS is everything. I don’t know who I would be or what sort of student I would be if it weren’t for CCS. It gets your foot in the door and allows you insane opportunities.

CCS: What has been your favorite aspect of CCS as a student?
 
KK: The people in your classes aren’t just classmates–they are friends and people you can communicate with in a way that I have never been able to communicate with people back home. They get me here. Even professors feel like colleagues and friends rather than distant deities with power over your future successes or failures.
 

CCS: Does a memorable moment stand out from your time at CCS? If so, please describe the moment.  
 
KK: Finding out my CCS program coordinator and advisor wishes to join my Dungeons and Dragons league–also offering to be a host!
 
Another memory is finding out that the closet in the CCS women’s bathroom is full of old literary journals. Walking into CCS feels like you’ve stepped out of university life and into Narnia.
 

Walking into CCS feels like you’ve stepped out of university life and into Narnia.

CCS: What advice would you give to future CCS students?
 
KK: Take risks, especially those outside of class that are offered. And for school commitments–take those in trunk fulls because either you do it successfully and win, or you don’t and there aren’t consequences. Why wouldn’t you take the risk?
 

CCS: What are your plans after you graduate from CCS?
 
KK: I want to be a fiction author, but that’s not a paying job. I’ve still got a while to decide what I am going to do, so for now, my plans are to just focus on my writing and see what other pieces fall into place. Maybe I’ll work at McDonald's or maybe I’ll wear a fancy suit in a giant office in New York, writing during lunch breaks.