Wake Up and Use the Resources!

In this week’s blog post, I wanted to call attention to a resource that we as students fail to use to its fullest extent: the Department of Alumni and Professional Engagement.

Last week, I had the pleasure to sit down and interview the Director for Career and Professional Development of the Dept. of Alumni and Professional Engagement, Wren Frisky. Ms. Fritsky has been with Bloomsburg University for over 5 years and serves as the CoST Liaison and TWC Campus Liaison for BU.

To start, I asked Ms. Fritsky to give me a brief rundown of what the Department of Alumni and Professional Engagement aims to do for students? She explained that the department has two main goals:

1)      To prepare students through networking practice, internships, career experiences, and professional development; they have a special grant, called a Professional Experience Grant (PEG) helps alleviate some of the costs associated with career experience.  

2)      To connect students to alumni so they can have a peek into various industries and make connections that will help them find employment after graduation.

To do this, the department provides workshops on everything from interview preparation to career coaching; from building a network to how to present yourself. The Department of Alumni and Professional Engagement also looks to host events to get alumni back to Bloomsburg to talk about their experience, and possibly connects them to career opportunities. One place you might have encountered the department’s handiwork is the COLA symposium and other BU college conferences. They help recruit and invite alumni to volunteer- as panelists, classroom speakers, experience hosts, and more.

The Department encourages students to get involved with networking platforms like Handshake and LinkedIn, which some of you might be very familiar with. The links below allow you to go directly to the login/account setup page for each of these platforms.  

·       LinkedIn: Log In or Sign Up

·       Students | Handshake (bloomu.joinhandshake.com)

 

Ms. Fritsky recommends that students utilize these resources as much as possible, calling them, “ A student’s best friend!” Social media platforms like these are especially helpful when wanting to build up your network, which the folks at A&PE say is everything when looking for a job or internship. This applies to all students, not just English majors.

Later in the interview, I asked if there were any specific scholarships or job placement for English majors? Her advice to me is to examine and reflect on yourself when you are looking for a job or field of study. Look at what you like or what you do not like. Reflect on your non-negotiables and broaden your search to include jobs with the type of skillset you have, not just what your major says. She also said to look for what makes you happy and to take every opportunity to push yourself to try things outside your comfort zone. Ms. Frtisky’s last point was to understand that college years should be used to try, fail, learn, and try again. In other words, take every opportunity that comes your way, even if you are a little afraid because you never know what can come of it.   

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with, Wren Fritsky or any of the department members at ProfessionalU@bloomu.edu. You can also find them at the Greenly Center 3F downtown.

Say Hello To: Destiny Lyda

 It's time for another "Say Hello To" blog piece!

Credit to Destiny Lyda 

This week I talked to a creative writing major, Destiny Lyda. Destiny is a sophomore here at Bloom. She originally started out as a secondary education major but was quickly drawn to the creative writing track. She told me that through one of her GenEd classes, Foundations of Writing, she became more interested in the English Department and what it had to offer. Destiny explained, "I had a great professor named Dr. Costanzo who talked about English and linguistics with such a passion, it sparked something in me!" She went on to tell me that she had always had a passion for writing and she had even thought about pursuing it but never thought she could. Destiny mentioned her concern to Dr. Costanzo. From there, he encouraged her to check out the other writing classes offered at Bloomsburg and see what happened. 

But what finally tipped the scales for Destiny was after going through field experience in the education major. She realized this was something she wasn't truly passionate about, so she made the decision to follow her dream of majoring in creative writing. 

The transition from one major to the other was smooth and easy. When Destiny entered the English department, her advisor Dr. Wemple helped her navigate the new major.  He added her with picking classes and gave her access to resources and emails if there was ever a question she needed answered. At the start of Fall 2020, Destiny officially became a part of the Creative Writing track here at Bloomsburg University. She told me, "Every single English class I have taken has been the best. I have learned so much and I get to write and read to my heart's content!"

Here at BU, every department strives for student success and encourages students to share their work with many organizations on and off-campus. The English department is no exception. While Destiny and  I chatted back and forth over email, I asked her what was it about the department she liked the most. She replied that organizations like Warren, the literary magazine here at Bloom, was one of those things that she was drawn to. She also commented on the opportunities that arise for amateur writers through contests put out by the English Department or organizations like Warren. 

Destiny also told me that she cannot wait for the semesters to come. She encourages those interested in literature and writing to consider a major or minor in English.  Destiny explained at the end of our communication that she can attest firsthand that English is not just books and writing.  The English Department includes degrees in professional writing or literature. These paths can open many doors for students wishing to have a career with companies and organizations as high-quality writers or publishers. When asked about what should readers take away from this interview, Destiny replied, "There is more to an English degree than you would think. If you have even a slight interest in a class or track in the department, ask! If you want to pursue that interest, the English Department can help."

Say Hello To: Allie Diehl

Last week, I had the privilege of interviewing one of the English Department's Secondary Education majors, Allie Diehl. We chatted over email about what brought her to Bloom, her experience with the department so far, and her future plans. 

Credit to Allie Diehl 

When Allie decided to go to BU to major in secondary education English, she knew she wanted to be in the education department. Growing up, she told me about how she watched her mother’s passion for teaching and quickly decided to follow her mother’s example. Allie remembers she loved to play school, made worksheets for her “students,” and even set up her bedroom to be a makeshift classroom. Besides her obvious childhood love of all things teaching, Allie said it helped that many of her friends had taken classes and majored in education. It also helped that the BU education program is recognized as one of the best in the state.

What Allie didn’t know then was how the English Department would challenge her to improve her overall writing, critical thinking, and analysis skills.  Allie expressed this to me when she said, “I’ve only had a few classes in the department so far, but they’ve all been outstanding. Many of the professors I’ve had have left such great impressions upon me that I’ve gone out of my way to take a class with them again.”

Another aspect of the English department also prompted her to look into becoming a WALES consultant. Her curiosity peaked, Allie decided to look into what WALES’ mission was and became very interested in working there. After contacting Dr. Roggenbuck, she was informed most students are recommended to the program by faculty and the training requires a 1-credit course. Allie remembered, “Once a professor recommended me to WALES, I was so excited. I’m currently taking the training course, and I’m loving it so far. I love the principles WALES stands upon, and I’m looking forward to joining the staff this fall.”

When I asked Allie about why she choose Secondary Education over the other tracks, she told me that she wants to inspire students to become the best individuals they can be and give them a good foundation for their future. She also stressed her love of writing. She did say that she has become more interested in literature since starting college thanks to the department here at BU.

At the end of our interview, I asked about what her future goals were, Allie, said, “Not all my future students will love English the way I do, and that’s perfectly okay. My goal is to have students recognize the value in English studies and allow them to express themselves through what we do in the classroom”. She went on to say that she believes teaching students the content they need to be successful is of the utmost importance. But she stressed the importance of developing ways that were creative and impactful ways she could find that would teach her students to grow both inside and outside of the classroom. 

All credit to Allie Diehl.  

Big Dog Reading Series: Professor Jerry Wemple's Artemas & Ark: the Ridge and Valley Poems

You might know Dr. Jerry Wemple from previous blog posts, written by a past contributor, or perhaps you’ve had him as a professor, or maybe you've just merely passed him on campus pre-COVID. What you might not know about Dr. Wemple is he’s a published poet and a creative non-fiction writer. He has been published in journals and anthologies and has written four poetry collections.

Credit to BU Faculty Page 

Dr. Wemple has also been present with several awards for his incredible work. He was first awarded the Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award in 2000 for his poetry collection, You Can See It From Here. Then four years later, The Civil War in Baltimore was awarded the Word Journal Chapbook prize.  That was only the tip of the iceberg.

Just last year, Dr. Wemple published a new collection called Artemas & Ark: the Ridge and Valley Poems, which was described by WVIA presenter, Erika Funke, as, “Distinctive-lyrical and ballad-like, and a mythical landscape.” Dr. Wemple has been invited to talk about his poetry on both the WVIA radio program ArtScene and the Arts In Bloom of Bloomsburg University Big Dog Reading Series. He also gave a virtual reading for the Big Dog Reading series on February 4^th, 2021 that was streamed live on Facebook Live and YouTube.

If this something that interests you or you want to find out more about Dr. Jerry Wemple’s work, you can follow the links at the bottom of the page. There you can find the link to his interview with Erika Funke from WVIA’s ArtScene and to his virtual reading for Big Dog Reading Series from February 4, 2021.

 

Here is the link for the radio interview

https://soundcloud.com/wvia-public-media/jerry-wemple-february-01-2021?in=wvia-public-media/sets/artscene-1 [soundcloud.com]

 

Here is a link for the reading

https://www.facebook.com/ArtsinBloomBU/videos/873033730178436 [facebook.com]

 

 

 

 

Get To Know Your Department

Get To Know Your Department: Michael Martin Edition 

Credit to Bloomsburg University Faculty Page  

Of all the possible jobs he could end up in, Michael Martin never thought he would be a professor. For his undergraduate studies, he received his bachelors’ degree in History and Humanities from Dana College in Nebraska in 1983. After this, he was on track to become a parish pastor. But obviously, life had other plans. He left the clergy roster to go back to school and get his doctorate at Michigan Technological University in Houghton in Rhetoric and Technical Communication, which boasts one of the top five rhetoric programs in the country. He also received an invitation to do his Ph.D. in Theology at Princeton but turned it down. After earning his doctorate in 2003, he taught as an assistant professor of Technical Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Stout for six years, before receiving a job as an assistant professor and director of the Digital Rhetoric and Professional Writing Program in 2009. Dr. Michael Martin is now the full-time associate professor of Professional and Technical Writing Program in the English major here at Bloomsburg University.

While the good doctor is clearly accomplished academically, his passion for helping his students succeed is equal to his skill in rhetoric and writing. Dr. Martin strives to be there for every individual student that he has, no matter the issue. But during my interview with him, he told me that he had to grow into that role. He explained about the first teaching job he had at the University of Wisconsin being a huge learning curve for himself personally. He told me that through that job, he gained the understanding that being understanding and flexible towards students didn’t mean lowering his standards; it was merely finding the balance of challenging the student to develop their skills while being understanding of circumstances.

On an average day, you can find Dr. Martin juggling his classes, both upper level, and GEP classes, helping high school seniors create resumes and cover letters, advising his student advisees, and overseeing the English Department’s internships, all while making time for not just current students, but alumni as well. Dr. Martin expressed that, “We need to continue to cultivate our relationships with alumni, even after they’ve gone, so they know they’re not forgotten.” He makes a point of staying in contact with many of his former students and alumni as a testament to this belief.

As we finished our interview, I asked Dr. Martin about what he felt the biggest change was that came with teaching students fully online? He replied with this, “The biggest difference for us (educators) is to prepare them for the technologically advanced world that they are going into. We are trying to navigate it at the same time, so how do we prepare them for a world that has been turned upside down? We do so by equipping them with the skills needed to be successful at their jobs when they leave the academic and transition to into the professional.” This is what the English Department and Bloomsburg are all about; providing students with the knowledge needed to not only be successful but to inspire change in the world around them.     

Interviewing Alumni: Sarah Karasek on "The Little Punk Princess"

This week we interviewed alumnus Sarah Karasek about her upcoming book The Little Punk Princess: A Fairy Tale started as an URSCA project (that's Undergraduate Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity if you don't know), that took off. Take a break from studying for finals this week and give this quick little interview a listen.

The Little Punk Princess: A Fairy Tale synopsis: 

Princess is the heiress to the Presidency of America, but she has a dark secret - a deep love of metal, punk, and ska - all illegal contraband under the new ultra-conservative government.  When her secret stash of music is discovered, she is faced with the harsh decision of fleeing her country or giving up her only pleasure forever.

Unable to stand the prospect of a mind-numbing life full of Top 40 playlists, Princess departs through slums, sewers and swamps in search of a mysterious land beyond The Wall. With the aid of several magical friends and a little bit of luck, she makes her way to a place where music and culture flourish. A carnival village where great bands play 24/7 and Princess is invited backstage. But the culture clash may be more than she expected: her designer clothes get dirty, everyone thinks she’s a poser, and she’s asked to wash dishes like a lowly commoner. But if Princess can find a new way of existing in the world, she might just help change it for the better.

(Amazon.com)

Sarah also graciously expanded a little more via email after the interview Check out what she had to say about the editing process and the how the URSCA project helped her: 

"Because I edit as I write, it took me about two and a half months to write my final draft. One of the most interesting things I learned was that my double-spaced word document was seventy-some pages, but the book-form is over ninety. For some reason I always guessed the page count would be about the same.

"Editing is soothing to me. When I edit, it's mostly making sure all the pieces connect. If I don't already have a chapter title, this is when I come up with one and make sure it fits the theme/s.

"I said on the phone that I couldn't have written the book without the URSCA project, but more exactly, I couldn't have written the book so early in my writing career if I didn't have the previous incentive to hardcore study the genre I was writing. This ties in with my emphasis on writing for an audience. If you're writing horror or romance or whatever else, make sure you've read enough things in that genre that you adore so that writing for yourself is that same as writing for that audience. Pay attention to the publishers and journals that you find really awesome pieces in. If you haven't quite found what you want to read yet, try digging deeper. I found bizarro (a very new movement) from surrealism, mostly spurred on by E.T.A. Hoffman who passed away in 1822.

"Shameless plug: Follow me on Twitter @haunted4always. I don't have an author profile on Goodreads yet, but I'd love to see what you're reading there, so feel free so friend me. I go by my usual name, Sarah Karasek."

Be on the lookout for this book in May!

Tips to Stay Sane During Finals Week

Yeah, finals are coming up next week. We all know what that means. The beginning of the semester feels like it happened eons ago, and you can’t remember how to spell basic words. Instead of feeling stressed out trying to remember facts from your seven different classes, try these helpful tips:

Study Advice:

Stop studying the night before – At some point you need to tell yourself “It’s past 1 in the morning, I’ve crammed all I can into my head”. Space out your studying this week. Sleep is important.

Take breaks – People can generally study between 20 minutes to an hour before they start to “crash” or get distracted, so try to absorb knowledge in 30 chunks and take 10 minutes in between to grab a snack or take a lap around the library.

Use all your senses – The more senses you use when studying, the more likely the information will stick in your head. Try reading them out loud, rewriting them by hand, or even singing them. One thing that helps a lot is re-teaching them. Call your parents or siblings, sit down with your roommate, and “teach” them about what you learned this semester.

Test-Taking Tips:

Clear your head – take a few moments before going to your final to close your eyes and breathe, especially if you’re anxious. You don’t have to purge every thought, just take a second to calm your thoughts down.

Get in there with an “I don’t care attitude” – it sounds counterintuitive, but going into a test without worrying over whether it will make or break your grade in class will help you calm de-stress a little.

Self-Care: 

Sleep – If you ignored my advice about not studying the night before—why? Sleep is important!

Eat something – Eating is also important. You’re not you when you’re hungry (Snickers Logo). Hydrating falls under this one, too.

Clean up – Especially important if you’re traveling to go back home for winter break. Take a five-minute break to make your bed, put away some clothes. Decluttering the space around you can help declutter your thoughts.

After Finals?

This is de-stress time. Take some time to celebrate or commiserate with your friends and/or family about how you did, but don’t obsess over it. Let yourself relax. No matter how you did, you just got done with your finals! Good job.

Alumnus Interview with JC Lee

About the movie Luce (2019):

“It's been ten years since Amy and Peter Edgar (Naomi Watts and Tim Roth) adopted their son from war-torn Eritrea, and they thought the worst was behind them. Luce Edgar (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) has become an all-star student beloved by his community in Arlington, Virginia. His African American teacher, Harriet Wilson (Octavia Spencer), believes he is a symbol of black excellence that sets a positive example for his peers. But when he is assigned to write an essay in the voice of a historical twentieth-century figure, Luce turns in a paper that makes an alarming statement about political violence. Worried about how this assignment reflects upon her star pupil, Harriet searches his locker and finds something that confirms her worst fears.” (rottentomatoes)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recently, I had the opportunity to have a conversation with JC Lee, an alumnus of Bloomsburg University and Juilliard who recently showed his move Luce on campus. We talked about his movie, his career, his methods for how he got from point A to point B in his life, and advice he had for anyone trying to do the same.

The inspiration for the original play came from multiple places and facets of his life, including how he himself is mixed race, and how he’s had to code-switch to fit in with different groups of people in his life, a theme prevalent in his play-turned-movie. He also drew a little bit from his love of superheroes and their own alter egos, and the idea that everyone has a mask that they put on for others.

The movie Luce was originally as play, as we know. Lee has been involved in the theater for basically his entire life, especially during his undergrad at Bloomsburg University, and his time at Julliard. During our conversation, he told me that he’d been writing a bunch of comic stories with superheroes at Juilliard for a while.  Near the end of his time there, he was told that he had to write a “grown-up” story. “I thought, “What does that even mean?” he joked with me, and told me he’d ended up returning to an idea that he’d jotted down in a notebook years ago and written in “Come back to this when you’re 35.” That idea ended up becoming Luce.

The play debuted in 2013, and it was due to the encouragement, prompting and pushing of a friend that it became the movie it is today.

How he got to where he is, Lee told me, is basically through hard work. You have to have a drive, and it’s something people are born with or not. “I have no doubt that there are a lot of talented people in LA,” he said, “but you have to have the drive to go after your goals.” He’s had to support himself for much of his life, and his suggestion on “making it” was to go for it.

Currently, Lee is working on another play, a short movie based on a short story by Stephen King, and series for Apple TV. When I asked him why he took on so many varied forms of media, he told me that working on different genres and forms of media helped to hone his skills.

Following that, his advice is to hone your skills by working on different things, and also to take in everything. Every form of media, books and TV shows and movies and plays, and to take in the bad as well as the good.

Thanks to JC Lee for letting me pick your brain and share your thoughts with the masses.

Meet Our Students: Liana Amadeo

What's your name? Liana (Lee) Rosalie Amadeo
Where are you from? Central Islip, Long Island, NY
What's your major? English, Secondary Education
Minor? Literature
Year? Senior
Literary Strengths? Writing Analysis
Favorite books and/or TV shows? My favorite book is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Why did you become an English major? In 8th grade I had a really caring English teacher who pushed me to be the best I can be and showed me that I was actually good at something when I didn’t truly see any of my strengths. He is one of the many reasons I chose this profession.
Favorite class(es) ever taken? Creative Writing with Professor Koch and Literature for Young Adults with Dr. Stuart
What organizations are you a part of? Warren Literary and Art Journal, Sigma Tau Delta
Favorite subjects to write about, formally or informally? I love writing memoir pieces about my own life. I also like to write about Marvel and Transformers in my free time.
Quick, create a title for a book you’d like to write: A Marvelous Transformation
Now a title for a book about you: Little Lee
Dream job? 12th grade English teacher
Any advice for incoming freshmen or students thinking about taking more English classes? Take something that isn’t in your comfort zone. You may be surprised by how much you love the challenge.

Liana is the Managing editor of Warren Literary and Art Journal, which is currently taking submissions! Check out their social media to learn more: 

Instagram: @warrenbu49

Twitter: @warrenbu49

Email: litmag@bloomu.edu

Big Dog Reading with Wemple and Lawrence

Our own Prof. Wemple and Dr. Lawrence were the guests for the most recent installment of the Big Dog Reading Series.

Prof Wemple introduced the event with a the statement, "November, the worst month of the year," a sentiment echoed by many who prefer warmer weather. Ironically enough, both educators' readings were set in the summer.

Dr. Lawrence started us off with some personal and deeply touching flash (non)fiction and illustrations (and a bonus drawing she added in to lighten the mood).

She began with a flash fiction piece, then led into a series of flash-nonfiction pieces she wrote about her recent discovery of her birth father, following a timeline that started before she was born, and ending in the summer of 2019.

Her pieces explored family dynamics, mother-daughter interactions, including one of her truest lines, “mothers in opera are notoriously bad,” and piecing together parts of the past to create something beautiful out a messy, scattered life.

Best line: “When I was 5, I thought Mr. Rogers was my father.”

Wemple read second, introducing a set of nostalgic summertime poems he wrote during a retreat this past summer.

His six poems were titled as follows: “That Summer,” “GAR,” (standing for Grand Army of the Republic), “Smash Cans,” and “Almost,” “First Visit, South Carolina,” and “Tapies.” 

His prose led us through sun-soaked backyards and parking garages with evocative imagery and engaged all the senses, recalling the nostalgia of summers long past. He connected the past with the present, and engaged the audience: “Of course, everything is connected, even those of you listening to this here and now.”

Another quote: “Because baseball is a metaphor for life, I’m gonna end with a baseball poem.”

Bad Poetry Night: Warren Literary and Art Journal

Department Blogger and Social Media Internship Opportunity

The English Department is seeking applications for a 3-credit internship for spring 2020 (8-10 hours of work per week).  The intern will create English Department blog posts (i.e. posts like these!), update the website and Twitter, post about the department to social media, keep an internship journal, create an ePortfolio of your work, write a reflection essay about the experience, and perform other duties to promote the department as needed, including possibly critiquing the department’s existing promotional efforts.  The intern will report to the English Department chair (Dr. Entzminger).

Requirements:

• Minimum 60 credits and 3.0 GPA by end of fall 2019
• English Major in Literature, Creative Writing, or Professional Writing and Digital Rhetoric
• Strong writing skills
• Experience creating blog posts or editing web pages
• No previous internship credits
• Good work ethic and initiative

Don't miss out on the opportunity to run this blog! To apply, send a resume and cover letter explaining why you are interested in the position and detailing your qualifications by December 1 to Dr. Entzminger at bentzmin@bloomu.edu.  In addition, ask one BU professor to email a letter of recommendation on your behalf to Dr. Entzminger.  

Interview with Shawn Rosler: The Coarse Grind

This week, we interviewed Shawn Rosler, Bloomsburg University alumnus, about his podcast "The Coarse Grind." Listen to the end for info on a special giveaway.

Find out more about Shawn Rosler and "The Coarse Grind" here:

the coarse grind podcast
youtube
twitter
instagram

COLA Symposium, English Alumni Panel Cover

Bloomsburg University’s 4th annual College of Liberal Arts Symposium was held just last week, inviting professors and alumni to speak and share their experiences and knowledge at various panels. One such panel featured five alumni of the English Department, providing life experience to English majors who are all going to be wondering the same thing upon graduation: what happens next?

From left: Steve Kotch, Lisa Regan, Jennifer Melzer, Seth Nolan, Keara Hozella

Keara Hozella (’14) is a Corporate Storyteller at SEKISUI SPI, a plastics manufacturing company in Bloomsburg. What does a corporate storyteller do? Hozella does all of the company writing, including social media, press releases, internal communications and editing. Whew.
Biggest piece of advice? Be involved at Bloom outside of classes. Hozella was a Gender Studies minor as well as an English major. SHe was also involved with the Voice (our student newspaper), the writing center (now WALES), and was gender studies work study student. All of these extracurricular activities helped her to gain skills that she uses in her job today.
Her interviews that she did with the Voice helped her to learn how to interview her coworkers and colleagues. Her English classes taught her how to write, write well, and edit well—and importantly, how to edit others without offending them.
Words of wisdom: “Your plan that you have right now might shift, but there are always ways for you to get to where you want to be.”

Steve Kotch (’10) is currently a copywriter at web.com, and is working on his teaching degree. He started out in the education track, but decided to go the full English major route when he found he wanted to write more. After completing his undergrad, he took a job at the call center of web.com, and after working there a little, noticed that they had copywriters and copyeditors. He applied for that position, and is now a copywriter, writing and editing copy and helping businesses move up the ranks in Google.
Words of wisdom: (on applications) “They want to see that you’re interested in the craft.”

Jennifer Melzer (06’) is a freelance author and editor. She’s been editing since right after she graduated, after hearing the advice from those around her saying that she had to focus to do something with her degree. Meltzer scoured the internet and created contacts that helped her build her client list and has been editing and writing fiction for the last 12-13 years.
The skills Meltzer uses most as an editor are her peer review skills she honed from her English classes, and how to give feedback without being hateful or hard. It all boils down to tact.
Words of wisdom: “I just started looking all over the place for places to write for, and through those opportunities I met other writers, and most of them were fiction writer or business writers and they needed an editor.”

Seth Nolan (’15) is currently a newspaper journalist at the Williamsport Sun Gazette, a “medium-to-small sized city with big city problems” that covers the news daily. Nolan has been a reporter there for three years, after a stint with the Press Enterprise, and is now an editor, in addition to helping with media and design.
Nolan learned how to be a diverse writer at Bloom. At the paper, he’s been required to cover all sorts of stories, from crime and court, to environmental issues, to whatever else they’d throw at him. It all requires him to be in a different headspace, and his experiences with English helped him to cover these stories.
Words of wisdom: “I was always more on the creative end, even though I was on the literature track. I realized I needed to get a portfolio together and got involved with the Voice. I started a little late, but it’s not too late to start building a portfolio . . . I’d got together a solid portfolio and send it to different editors, saying ‘this is my experience.’"



Lisa Regan (’02, ’05) currently is a full-time writer. Her titles have been on the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.
After first graduating from BloomU, Regan wasn’t sure of what she wanted to do, so she decided she wanted to get her PhD and become a professor. She came right back for her masters, and upon student teaching, realized that she didn’t share the same passion for teaching that her colleagues did. She finished her masters and went to Philadelphia to start working on writing, becoming a paralegal to pay the rent. She worked for thirteen years as a paralegal before she could start writing full time. She currently has eleven titles published, with her twelfth coming out in December.
There are three skills she gained as an English major that helped her with both her paralegal work and her writing, she says, and will carry over to any field. The first is critical thinking. The second, attention to detail. And the third, spelling and grammar.
Words of wisdom: “NOBODY uses critical thinking in the real world. I was a very highly paid paralegal. I was a plaintiff’s paralegal, which normally doesn’t pay much, but my boss valued my critical thinking skills so highly that I made twice as much as the others.”



While all of the alumni on the panel had great advice for the students in the crowd, one of the best pieces of advice came from Dr. Entzminger, the English Department head, while closing the panel: “Not everybody’s job is the right job.” None of these panelists started in the job the ended up in, and a few of them might move on to different jobs in the future, but the skills they learned as English majors with carry with them throughout their lives and help them in their careers.

Meet Our Students: Anna Jaskiewicz

Where are you from? Bloomsburg
Major? English: Lit and English: Digital Rhetoric
Year? Senior
Literary Strengths? writing analysis, professional writing (gotten better at)
Favorite books and/or TV shows? Steinbeck, East of Eden, probably anything from Margaret Atwood. I don’t really watch TV so I don't have any favorites—except for Avatar: the Last Airbender.
Why did you become an English major? At first I wanted to teach English in a high school setting, then I just fell in love with study of literature and literary criticism, and I realized there was a lot more that I could do with an English degree than I originally thought.
Favorite class(es) ever taken? Major Authors, focusing on Atwood - Topics and Criticism with Dr. Randall - European Lit 1 with Dr. Whitworth - Approaches to Lit with Dr. Randall
What organizations are you a part of? Phi Sigma Pi, a national honors fraternity (I'm the president), Sigma Tau Delta which is another honors fraternity, and I'm the opinion/editorial editor of the Voice.Favorite subjects to write about, formally or informally? I like literary criticism, even like on a more base level just book reviews, but I only really write when I have to.
Quick, create a title for a book you’d like to write: Middle Class Memoirs
Now a title for a book about you: Uh, Incredibly Indecisive
Dream job? Professional Reader–does it have to be real?
Any advice for incoming freshmen or students thinking about taking more English classes? Enough is never enough with lit classes. Don’t be afraid to even minor in English if you want to major in something else because the skill set is invaluable.

COLA Symposium

If you’re taking any English class whatsoever (and I hope you are!), you probably know about the 4th annual College of Liberal Arts Symposium. Make sure to check out the schedule found here to see what lectures you want to see the most—like our multiple English Department alumni. The event is taking place this Thursday and Friday in multiple buildings around campus, so be sure to attend.