J Elizabeth Mascoli, FCRH ’22, is an aspiring author. She published her first book, “Broken Glass,” in 2019, the summer after her freshman year. “Broken Glass” centers around Reeve, a high schooler who’s in recovery from an eating disorder. “I wrote it because I wanted more books about recovery rather than just the disorders themselves,” she says.

Mascoli wrote “Broken Glass” in her final two years of high school, but she pursued publication after coming to Fordham. “I was working with my English professor and the publishing company AuthorHouse to get it going,” she said. Though the process of self-publishing can be complicated, Mascoli says publishing a book at age 19 is one of her proudest accomplishments.

Though she’s “constantly working on a few things at a time,” Mascoli knows what she’s looking to publish next—a novel set in her home state of Massachusetts in the late 1700s. “I’m just working on finishing it up and editing, and then I’ll get moving on publishing that one too,” she said.

Mascoli also enjoys writing nonfiction; she’s been a biweekly columnist for Fordham Political Review since her freshman year. Her most recent column is about “Rams Against Aramark,” which raises awareness for Aramark’s questionable practices beyond Fordham University’s reach.

Mascoli is earning a double major in political science and history. The former was her original aim coming into college, and the latter came to her after she took a medieval history class as a freshman. She’s particularly interested in “American history and Tudor-era England and Ireland.” Mascoli intends to turn her love for history into a career after graduation. “My goal is to be a teacher, preferably civics and history at the middle- or high-school level,” she says.

Aside from her writing, Mascoli enjoys theatre, which she’s been involved with since middle school. “It’s so great to have so many clubs here on campus I can continue working with … I’ve been in a few Mimes and Mummers productions, and now recently, I have been working with TOP [Theatrical Outreach Program],” she said. Last semester, she played a role in “Accused of Comedy” as part of TOP’s One Acts Festival.

Her love for theatre extends to music as well. Lately, Mascoli’s been bopping to the soundtracks of “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Hadestown.” She’s also a musician herself. “I go down to Keating basement quite often to use the piano practice rooms,” Mascoli says, though she often complains that the pianos are out of tune. When she has the room to herself, she practices electric guitar. 

In her free time — stretched thin between her writing, theatre and piano — Mascoli is a woman of many talents. While Spanish fulfills her language requirement for Fordham, she’s been teaching herself Italian, Korean and American Sign Language. Beyond that, Mascoli spends her time playing Minecraft, watching the Celtics, practicing calligraphy and sitting outside. In her own words: “I like to invite all my friends to sit out on Eddie’s with me and then complain because I get cold very easily.”