Saturday, March 3, 2012 12:20 pm

MURRAY, Ky. — Rachael Isom, who is currently a graduate student at Murray State University, was published in the January 2012 edition of Apollon, an online undergraduate publication. 

Isom, 22, is from Cleveland, Tenn., and is a former member of the MSU women’s basketball team. Isom relinquished her final year of sports eligibility to accept a graduate teaching fellowship, awarded to her by the department of English and philosophy. Last fall, she enrolled in the graduate program to pursue a masters of arts specializing in English. 

Regarding her decision Isom said, “I am grateful to have had the chance to play college basketball, but the shift to graduate school and teaching has been a wonderful change for me this year.” 

The published paper was originally written for an undergraduate American literature class taught by Dr. Peter Murphy, professor of English. It is a comparison of the poems, Helen by Hilda Doolittle, more commonly known as H.D., and Edgar Allen Poe’s To Helen. 

“We studied H.D.’s work in class, and I found it fascinating,” said Isom, “I greatly appreciate Dr. Murphy’s feedback on my paper, as well as his encouragement to submit to Apollon.” 

This is her first publication. 

Apollon is a student-designed and student-led digital journal in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. It was founded at Berea College (Ky.) in 2011. It is the first publication to publish only work by undergraduates. Isom’s paper was published in the journal’s second volume. 

“I am honored to be published in Apollon, especially to have been given this opportunity as undergraduate. I was pleasantly surprised to receive the news,” said Isom. 

After graduate school Isom hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in English and teach at the university level.