For Isa Manhart, who will begin their senior year at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) this fall, college has been about more than preparing for a career. It’s been a place to build community, amplify voices, and fight for justice. Born and raised in Omaha and a proud graduate of Central High School, Manhart is pursuing degrees in secondary education English language arts and English creative nonfiction (CNF).
Although Manhart has “always loved writing,” pursuing a degree in creative writing, they said, had not been their first choice.
“Initially, I wanted to study playwriting in college, but I made the shift to education when I started at UNO,” they noted. “I did a year as an elementary education major, but I switched to secondary because I realized it was a better fit for me—and my endorsement classes got me engaged with the English Department.”
It was Modern Familiar Essay, Manhart said, that first sparked their passion for creative nonfiction.
“I hadn't heard of CNF before I started taking my English endorsement classes at UNO, but I was immediately hooked,” they said. “I realized I wanted to pursue a double degree in English so I could continue to develop as a writer alongside the incredible CNF community at UNO.”
The Creative Nonfiction Program housed in the English department, they said, has allowed them to be part of a “wonderful community of writers,” both peers and faculty, who provide them with a “creative outlet and the opportunity to develop as a writer,” as well as “great role models on how to teach writing.
“The professors in the CNF program have been so amazing,” they said. “They treat students like professionals and always want to help connect you with opportunities to share your work.”
Manhart anticipates that the skills they learn from their teachers in CNF “will be invaluable as an educator.”
Manhart is a member of the UNO and Omaha Public Schools (OPS) Teacher Scholars Academy, a collaborative initiative between OPS and the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) aimed at recruiting, supporting, and retaining future educators. They will begin their teaching contract next fall.
“My hope is to...teach a combination of English classes and electives like creative writing and multicultural literature,” they said.
In all that they do—as a writer, an educator, and beyond—Manhart is ever-focused on justice. Both on and off campus, they have spent their time at UNO engaged in an array of volunteer work and activism, speaking at rallies, testifying at legislative hearings, and meeting with countless senators to further the cause of queer and trans rights.
“A big part of the work I have been doing during my time at UNO is legislative advocacy,” they noted. “Over the past three years, many pieces of legislation have been introduced in our state to target queer and trans youth.
“As a nonbinary future teacher, I see it as a really important part of my path of study to advocate against these bills, to ensure all students feel like they belong in Nebraska schools.”
On campus, Manhart worked with professors to create and share curriculum about how to support trans students; they worked alongside a professor to study the experiences of queer and trans teacher candidates; and they remain involved in intersectional advocacy work as a member of Teacher Education Diversity Organization (TEDO).
Beyond their queer and trans advocacy, Manhart is also a founding member, and former president, of Durango’s Outfitters, UNO’s first and only student-run, free campus closet.
“This is one of my favorite projects at UNO, because we work at the intersection of dignity, accessibility, and sustainability to ensure students across our campus and community have access to the clothing they need to succeed,” noted Manhart. “By setting up move-out donation drives, we're keeping clothing waste out of landfills while ensuring everyone can access what they need for free—whether that's gender-affirming clothes, business suits for interviews, kids' clothes for their families, or just casual clothing for classes.”
Manhart’s path hasn’t been without its hurdles. As a nonbinary person, their activism is informed by their own experiences—including “attacks on trans youth,” from the unicameral, as well as acts of discrimination or dismissiveness from peers and, sometimes, teachers. In this milieu, they said, they often felt “isolated.” But the support of the secondary education and English departments has given them “the energy to dedicate more time to my writing and advocacy.”
Throughout their time at UNO, Manhart stressed, they’ve “a lot of great professors.” But two in particular have had an outsized impact.
“In particular, I would like to thank Dr. Ferial Pearson in the education department who helped me make space for myself in the department when it felt like that didn't exist,” they said, “and Dr. John Price for convincing me that I belonged in CNF and always supporting my writing.
“I'm so grateful.”
A Theater for Young Audiences (TYA) playwright, Isa has spent much of their free time in the last three years outside of her schoolwork and activism adapting Flight of the Puffin by Ann Braden—a “middle-grade novel about kindness and connection”—for the stage. This summer, they were selected for a week-long development residency at New York University (NYU), where the play received staged readings.
“One of my hobbies is bringing stories to life for young people,” Isa said. “[The trip to NYU] was really incredible.”
When they’re not writing or reading, Manhart is likely making art or gardening. They’re a visual artist—doing “everything from sewing, to collage, to spray painting”—and have a bit of a green thumb.
“I love plants,” they noted. “I spend a lot of time taking care of all my houseplant babies and my pollinator garden.”
As they prepare to graduate next spring, Manhart hopes to bring the values they’ve lived on campus into their future classroom. For them, education is not just about passing on knowledge—it’s about creating a future where all students, especially those who’ve been marginalized, feel empowered to speak, thrive, and lead.
“I think teachers should be their students' biggest advocates,” they noted. “It's important to me to cultivate that practice, even before I get into the classroom.”
