News
English 111 Sets Students on a Journey Down Varied Career Paths
As universities across America near their winter break period, thousands of students prepare to answer an age-old question: “What are you going to do with your English degree?” The query launches from the mouth of a loved one across the dining table, or is posed rhetorically to one’s reflection in a bathroom mirror. For students at Penn State, one class might just help answer that question—English 111: “The Possibilities of English.”
These possibilities are presented to students up close and personal. Successful alumni are invited to ENGL 111 to discuss how Penn State’s English program prepared them for a wide array of careers. With a new alumni guest each week, students learn about the varied professional paths one can travel with an English degree, both conventional and more offbeat. This fall, alumni speakers included Torie Bosch, an editor and writer for the “First Opinion” section of the health and medicine website STAT, and Michael Buchanan, Director of Tour Management for Disney Theatrical Group in New York City. In successive weeks of the class, Jennifer Patterson, a speechwriter with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and attorneys Megan McGoron and Christian Nickerson, all shared their inspiring career journeys since graduating with their English degrees from Penn State.
Students in ENGL 111 also learn specifics about Penn State’s English program. Marcy North, Associate Professor of English and Interim Director of Undergraduate Studies, discussed the numerous concentration areas students can pursue within English. Additionally, Dayna Wegner, Student and Alumni Relations Coordinator with the College of the Liberal Arts’ Career Enrichment Network, outlined various opportunities throughout the College of the Liberal Arts—like internships, fellowships, scholarships, and study abroad programs—that can set students up for success upon graduation.
Just as the English degree opens up a diverse range of possibilities, it also attracts a diverse group of students across years and majors. Claire Williams, a fourth-year undergraduate in the five-year integrated BA/MA program in English, explained that she took this course planning to find a single answer to what she should do post-graduation. “If anything,” revealed Williams, [ENGL 111] made [my future plans] more ambiguous, which isn't a bad thing. I’ve seen so much variety in the careers and the people who came in and it gave me permission to not have a solid idea of what I’m doing.”
For many students, “I have no idea what I want to do” is a familiar sentiment. Luckily, ENGL 111 helps them narrow their strengths and interests by taking the “Clifton Strengths Assessment.” This assessment is not an exam, but a kind of aptitude test for students to discover what they naturally do best and consider how to apply their values to their work. Junior Samantha Bye said this aspect of the course was extremely helpful in considering her professional goals: she had planned on an editing career, but is now considering work in the nonprofit sector.
Alumni guest speaker Jessica DeVore, a Corporate Marketing and PR Director at healthcare tech startup Commure, gave Bye a valuable piece of advice. She was struck by DeVore’s call to “deconstruct your dream job and chase the pieces of it,” a method Bye has applied to explore how her interest in editing might be pursued down less obvious avenues.
Like all paths, career paths contain many crossroads, but ENGL 111 reminds students of the interdisciplinary nature of an English degree and its applicability to a large number of industries. Rose Ried, a junior double-majoring in English and environmental science, was particularly influenced by alumni speaker Philip Chwistek, a Product Manager at the software company Vivun. Ried recollected Chwistek’s advice to “practice your craft every day” and realized that “a liberal arts degree in general is really helpful because it gives you a lot of transferable skills that you can bring into any space.”
ENGL 111 itself also enhances students’ skillset, as junior English major Andrew St. Clair attested. St. Clair appreciated learning how to craft a resume that will catch a hiring manager’s attention—and how to articulate his strengths face-to-face in an interview setting. He credited Kevin McKeon, Vice President and General Counsel at construction corporation Wagman, for conducting a mock interview that helped him learn how to navigate the process.
‘Tis the giving season, and by taking ENGL 111, you will confidently be able to give an answer to the question: “What are you going to do with an English degree?” In fact, as this semester’s ENGL 111 students demonstrate, you’ll likely be able to give more than one. Ried reflected that ENGL 111 was most helpful in teaching her how to apply her English degree to numerous fields. “It feels like a part of my personality has been turned up, and I feel more confident going into those career spaces whether or not they correlate directly with my degree.”
As universities across America near their winter break period, thousands of students prepare to answer an age-old question: “What are you going to do with your English degree?” The query launches from the mouth of a loved one across the dining table, or is posed rhetorically to one’s reflection in a bathroom mirror. For students at Penn State, one class might just help answer that question—English 111: “The Possibilities of English.”
These possibilities are presented to students up close and personal. Successful alumni are invited to ENGL 111 to discuss how Penn State’s English program prepared them for a wide array of careers. With a new alumni guest each week, students learn about the varied professional paths one can travel with an English degree, both conventional and more offbeat. This fall, alumni speakers included Torie Bosch, an editor and writer for the “First Opinion” section of the health and medicine website STAT, and Michael Buchanan, Director of Tour Management for Disney Theatrical Group in New York City. In successive weeks of the class, Jennifer Patterson, a speechwriter with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and attorneys Megan McGoron and Christian Nickerson, all shared their inspiring career journeys since graduating with their English degrees from Penn State.
Students in ENGL 111 also learn specifics about Penn State’s English program. Marcy North, Associate Professor of English and Interim Director of Undergraduate Studies, discussed the numerous concentration areas students can pursue within English. Additionally, Dayna Wegner, Student and Alumni Relations Coordinator with the College of the Liberal Arts’ Career Enrichment Network, outlined various opportunities throughout the College of the Liberal Arts—like internships, fellowships, scholarships, and study abroad programs—that can set students up for success upon graduation.
Just as the English degree opens up a diverse range of possibilities, it also attracts a diverse group of students across years and majors. Claire Williams, a fourth-year undergraduate in the five-year integrated BA/MA program in English, explained that she took this course planning to find a single answer to what she should do post-graduation. “If anything,” revealed Williams, [ENGL 111] made [my future plans] more ambiguous, which isn't a bad thing. I’ve seen so much variety in the careers and the people who came in and it gave me permission to not have a solid idea of what I’m doing.”
For many students, “I have no idea what I want to do” is a familiar sentiment. Luckily, ENGL 111 helps them narrow their strengths and interests by taking the “Clifton Strengths Assessment.” This assessment is not an exam, but a kind of aptitude test for students to discover what they naturally do best and consider how to apply their values to their work. Junior Samantha Bye said this aspect of the course was extremely helpful in considering her professional goals: she had planned on an editing career, but is now considering work in the nonprofit sector.
Alumni guest speaker Jessica DeVore, a Corporate Marketing and PR Director at healthcare tech startup Commure, gave Bye a valuable piece of advice. She was struck by DeVore’s call to “deconstruct your dream job and chase the pieces of it,” a method Bye has applied to explore how her interest in editing might be pursued down less obvious avenues.
Like all paths, career paths contain many crossroads, but ENGL 111 reminds students of the interdisciplinary nature of an English degree and its applicability to a large number of industries. Rose Ried, a junior double-majoring in English and environmental science, was particularly influenced by alumni speaker Philip Chwistek, a Product Manager at the software company Vivun. Ried recollected Chwistek’s advice to “practice your craft every day” and realized that “a liberal arts degree in general is really helpful because it gives you a lot of transferable skills that you can bring into any space.”
ENGL 111 itself also enhances students’ skillset, as junior English major Andrew St. Clair attested. St. Clair appreciated learning how to craft a resume that will catch a hiring manager’s attention—and how to articulate his strengths face-to-face in an interview setting. He credited Kevin McKeon, Vice President and General Counsel at construction corporation Wagman, for conducting a mock interview that helped him learn how to navigate the process.
‘Tis the giving season, and by taking ENGL 111, you will confidently be able to give an answer to the question: “What are you going to do with an English degree?” In fact, as this semester’s ENGL 111 students demonstrate, you’ll likely be able to give more than one. Ried reflected that ENGL 111 was most helpful in teaching her how to apply her English degree to numerous fields. “It feels like a part of my personality has been turned up, and I feel more confident going into those career spaces whether or not they correlate directly with my degree.”