From Shakespeare scholar to community builder, MA English graduate Alexandra LeFlore is strengthening connections across continents, setting up the first UCL alumni network in the American Midwest.
After meeting Boston alumni group lead, Daniel Hawkins, at a UCL Coffee Connect event in 2023, Alexandra LeFlore felt inspired do the same in her home city. Since then, she has dedicated her time to helping others find community and support.
Born and raised in Illinois, Chicago, Alexandra became the first in her immediate family to graduate from university, earning a degree in education with minors in English Literature and Theatre. After missing out on an opportunity to study abroad during her undergraduate years, she decided to apply to UCL.
I grew up quite sheltered, but always had a desire to see more of the world. I applied, on a whim really, to UCL’s master’s programme in Shakespeare and History. I couldn’t believe it when I was accepted.
As a lifelong Shakespeare devotee, she couldn’t resist a programme dedicated to the Bard. Growing up with a stutter, she remembers learning about James Earl Jones overcoming his own stutter by reciting Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter. “I thought that was just the most incredible thing I’d ever heard,” she says. “Watching and performing Shakespeare helped me find my voice.”
Moving to London at 22 was a bold step. She had never owned a passport, lived alone, or been part of such a large university before. She decided to embrace everything UCL had to offer, finding community within her small cohort, immersing herself in the arts and going on trips across the UK.
Her dissertation, on performing Shakespeare for actors and audiences with support needs, earned a distinction. With encouragement from her professors, she is now turning this research into a book.
Returning to Chicago, Alexandra resumed teaching with a newfound confidence. She credits UCL with shaping her as an educator and helping her secure a role as an adjunct professor: “I became a better researcher, a better learner, and a better teacher.”
In 2023, craving connection post-pandemic, she founded the UCL Chicago Alumni Network, which now brings together graduates from the 1970s to today. The group were also a lifeline for Alexandra, when she sadly lost her mother:
When my mom passed, my Chicago UCL community were right there along the way. We had our Friendsgiving event when she was ill in hospital, and they just said: ‘What do you need? What can we do’. I’m so proud of this community and how they have supported me, and one another, through life’s highs and lows.
Alexandra is now exploring writing, acting, and expanding on her work to support teachers in engaging students with Shakespeare. As ever, she’s embracing every opportunity.
