English Major Advocates for Accessibility and Inclusion

Lara Boyle ’23 first received praise for her writing in middle school. Now, almost a decade later, the senior in Queens University of Charlotte’s English department has published two essays in Newsweek and one in HuffPost. In September, Boyle published her most recent Newsweek essay titled “I Couldn’t Do Math, a Surprising Diagnosis Revealed Why.“

Boyle describes herself as a creative, nonfiction writer. She leverages her identity and experiences to infuse honesty and accessibility into her work. This year, her personal essays have received national attention.

Born in Long Island, New York, Boyle finished high school in Waxhaw, North Carolina before beginning her studies at Queens.

“I chose Queens because the accessibility services recognized my learning disability, dyscalculia, and knew how to help me succeed,” said Boyle. “I also loved the small class sizes and strong sense of community in the English department.”

While her passion for writing has continued to grow during her time at Queens, Boyle’s interest in studying English took root in an eighth-grade classroom.

“I remember I retyped Hills Like White Elephants word for word to study what made a story great. I became determined to be a writer after that,” she said. “I treated it like a job and made sure to write every day. I went to creative writing camps every summer until my freshman year of college. That spark I felt only continues to grow.”

Boyle’s essay titled “I Have Involuntary Tics. This is What It’s Like When You Can’t Control Your Body” was published by HuffPost in May of 2022. She has also published two essays in Newsweek’s “My Turn” column. The first is titled “I Felt Like an Alien Before My Diagnosis, I Deserve Love Exactly As I Am.“

“Lara Boyle excels in all of her English classes and as an editor for Signet, our undergraduate literary journal,” said Sarah Creech, M.F.A, chair of the English Department. “This past summer, Lara shared her passion for writing as a camp counselor at the Queens Creative Writing Camp where middle and high school students had the chance to read Lara’s recently published essays and be inspired by her work. She’s an incredible asset to the Queens community. The English Department is very proud of Lara for building her publishing career and using her talents to raise awareness about issues related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”