Writing her own success story

After arriving in the UAE to study at AUS just four years ago from her home in Athens, Greece, Konstantina Spyropoulou has graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and an impressive collection of original literary works to her name. During her time at AUS, the young writer took the opportunity to dabble in playwriting, presenting her work through the university’s performing arts department, and has invested in the success of other AUSers through her work with the Writing Center and the First Year Experience program.

“The highlight of my academic career at AUS has to be my work as a Writing Center Tutor for the past two and a half years. Being able to assist students with their coursework was a rewarding and fulfilling experience that opened the doors to several other memorable opportunities. One of these was my work as the editor of the Writing Center journal, the Inkblot, and the interaction with fellow writers across AUS. The opportunity to be an FYE CAS Ambassador, as well as my work for the ASC and my involvement with the Performing Arts department in playwriting during the past year were equally memorable milestones,” said Spyropoulou.

Her participation in Lockdown Theatre—an initiative which saw AUS students writing, filming and acting a series of plays created entirely remotely—gave her the opportunity to explore her creativity and interact with fellow aspiring writers and performers. 

“My interest in drama and playwriting increased after taking Professor Tassa’s Playwriting course in Fall 2020, where I completed my play Robins Always Come Home. It was an interesting and challenging endeavor, but I am glad people from every discipline at AUS were able to connect to it and adapt it to what came to be an online video performance that gave life and spirit to my characters and meaning to my words,” she said.

“My favorite project during my studies is another play I wrote for the Theatre 361 course, in which I was able to incorporate elements of my culture and personal experiences while growing up in Greece and moving to the UAE. It holds a personal significance to me not only because it is my first full-length play, but because it changed the way I view myself as a writer, future educator, and as a person,” said Spyropoulou.

Following graduation, Spyropoulou hopes to be able to help even more people with their writing, and fulfill her dream of being a teacher. 

“In the meantime, I hope I will be able to use my creativity to incite, motivate, encourage and put a smile on people’s faces during these unprecedented times.”