Dr. Rhonda Brock-Servais & Matt Prickett ’06, M.A. ’07

Young adult literature brought Dr. Rhonda Brock-Servais and Matt Prickett together.

“She was the first person who told me that I didn’t have to hide the fact that I read these books,” said Prickett, ’06, M.A. ’07. “It opened my eyes. I thought, I can study professionally the books that I like to read.”

Prickett has followed that path since the first revelation, first as a lecturer and adjunct professor at Longwood and currently as a Ph.D. candidate at Rutgers University.

Dr. Brock-Servais, an expert in young adult and children’s literature, said the two hit it off as soon as they met. “He’s my two favorite things: smart and funny,” she said. “We share the same type of background—children of working-class parents who never considered college much of an option. We both made it in academia despite the odds.”

Prickett and Brock-Servais have incorporated work into their friendship, co-authoring two published essays on film adaptations of Anne of Green Gables and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, two popular children’s novels. Prickett was working as an adjunct professor and lecturer at Longwood when they spent an entire day writing and revising the first essay in Brock-Servais’ office.

“Dr. Brock-Servais is very open and friendly, but can really make you buckle down and push you academically,” said Prickett. “I learned a lot from working with her, and I felt like I could sit down with her and talk about anything. Professors like her are why I came to Longwood.”