Peraud, The Professional

Rich Peraud transforms from community college student to professor

fawwaz ashraf STAFF WRITER

Richard Peraud, one of STLCC - Meramec’s most tenured English professors, wasn’t originally planning on becoming a professor or even studying English. He was born and raised in Jolliet, Illinois, a small steel town south of Chicago.

“I’m the youngest of five. I was the first to go to college in my family … The expectation was: you’re 18; leave the house,” he said.

He was filled with uncertainty of what he wanted to pursue. At first, we went to college to study engineering but quickly left. Still not sure what exactly he wanted to do, he enrolled as a non-degree seeking student at his local community college. There, he settled that he still wanted to continue his education and, after receiving a great scholarship, left for Saint Louis University. He jumped around majors at the beginning but quickly settled into English and philosophy. Afterward, he got his master’s degree in English from Iowa State.

One of the main reasons why he chose English was for his love of literature, he said. Peraud is passionate about other subjects, such as history and psychology, and English gave him an opportunity to learn more about these subjects through narratives rather than just facts and figures.

“[Literature] encompassed the psychological stories about people,” he said.

After college, he became a teacher for three years then worked in corporate for 10 years. While working in corporate, he returned to teaching starting with night classes as an adjunct at STLCC - Meramec.

Peraud said he “always resonated with the students here and our population because a lot of our students then and still are first-generation, exploring, not sure what they want to do … That was certainly part of my story.”

Alongside his ability to relate to his students, he’s able to bring a unique perspective to the class, as he knows how to succeed in both corporate and academic settings.

After teaching for a few years, Peraud became a full-time professor at STLCC - Meramec in 2003.

One of Peraud’s favorite books is Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, a drama and “some of the best writing in American letters,” he said.

Some of his favorite authors are Louise Erdrich, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau, and one of his favorite poets is Ted Kooser.

His favorite lesson to teach is rhetorical theory from the beginning of College Composition II, as it encompasses so many different skills and helps his students navigate and engage with their world, he said.

One of his biggest writing tips is revision. In the same way an artist sketches or a musician practices, it takes time to create a polished body of work, as he described. “Go back through your work. Have somebody else go through your work with you. We try to be perfect on our first shot, and it never works.”

A final piece of advice that Peraud left was for making the most of one’s college experience. He said to “get involved. Meet somebody outside of your classes. … Take the opportunity you have here to engage: clubs, organizations, meet your faculty.”

Spring Break Staycation Ideas

MACY GILLICK STAFF WRITER

If an exotic vacation is too much for your budget, you don’t necessarily have to bore yourself with re-runs. Instead, step out of your comfort zone and consider these “Staycation” Ideas:

1. Get outside - get some fresh air and spend some time taking in the (mostly nice, hopefully) weather.

2. Binge your favorite TV shows - Whether or not you watch action packed dramas like “The Last of Us,” hilarious comedies like “Abbott Elementary” or even documentaries on any platform, Spring Break isn’t a bad time to catch up on or even rewatch your favorites while relaxing.

3. Go to your favorite places/or somewhere new each day of the week - It may not seem like it, but St. Louis has plenty of attractions to visit. For example, a new exhibit at the St. Louis Art Museum called the “Age Of Armor” has attracted a significant amount of media attention. Many locations like the Art Museum may also be free of charge to enter, as well.

4. Hang out with friends - There’s a saying that “time you enjoy wasting was not wasted” and that’s especially true when spending time with those closest to you .

5. Family time - your family could enjoy a movie night, game night together or go to movies, or bowl.

6. Start your Spring Cleaning - spring is known for a new start so during this time you could clean out a certain area that you have been meaning to.

7. Try a new hobby - if boredom comes about then teach yourself something new.

8. Redecorate your room - get some new decorations or move things around.

9. Catch up on your sleep - turn off your alarms and enjoy the week off.

10. Do something you always wanted to do - like pull an all nighter or eat breakfast in bed.

JACOB POLITTE MANAGING EDITOR

In a way, “Spare” is quite the treat. For perhaps the first time in history, we get a direct account of what the British Royal Family is like directly from someone who was and technically still is a part of it.

As the ‘spare’ child of Princess Diana and the now King Charles, Prince Harry always found himself in the shadow of his brother William.

But for every notable and interesting story in Prince Harry’s polarizing memoir, there’s a story with details that the reader absolutely did not ask to hear. Perhaps the strangest revolves around his “frostbitten todger” during his brother’s 2011 wedding and the even stranger way he chose to deal with it. There are many more stories like that one, even if they’re not quite as graphic. It helps ‘Spare’ feel more authentic and personal, but some stories are better left untold.

However, underneath those headline grabbing yellow journalism headlines, there is plenty of intriguing, relevant information shared within the book’s many short chapters. In particular, Harry details his tumultuous relationship with the media, who he finds complicit in his mother’s untimely demise in a Paris tunnel in 1997. He also does not hold back criticizing the British media for their conduct in recent times, including their