Sue Ayers: Senior Learning Associate

Name:  Sue Ayers

Age: 53

College & Majors/Minors: Virginia Commonwealth University - BA English, St. Joseph's College - M.S.Ed - Adult Education & Training

Current Location: Richmond, VA

Current Form of Employment:  Senior Learning Associate

Where do you work and what is your current position?

Currently, I am a Senior Learning Associate at Capital One. I oversee new hire training curriculum for a variety of fraud departments. 

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different). 

After I graduated from VCU, I had a variety of jobs, but none in a field I really loved. I took some time to raise my children and went back to work full-time in 2006 at Circuit City. I worked as a training designer, writing curriculum for home-theater and PC installers. I was hired in this position because of my English degree and my writing skills. After Circuit City closed in 2009, I developed training for a non-profit for four years. After that, I was hired as a contractor to work as an Instructional Designer at Capital One. After seven months, a position became available. I asked the manager if she would be interested in considering me for the job and I was delighted to be offered the position.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career? 

After Circuit City closed, I began writing for a variety of online sites which I still do today. I wrote for AOL, Yahoo Sports, eHow, and a host of other sites. A quality writer can find a lot of work writing for the web. I had a few mishaps along the way (clients who didn't want to pay, potential clients who wanted me to write for free to get exposure, etc); however, I was fortunate to find many good sites that paid well so I was able to build a significant online presence.

““Even though I work for a large company, I am fortunate to be able to be creative in my position. The best thing I did in college was to change my major to English.””

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life? 

I started out as a business major but my love of writing and literature kept pulling me back to the world of the arts. Even though I work for a large company, I am fortunate to be able to be creative in my position. The best thing I did in college was to change my major to English.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

Use your skills and knowledge to your advantage. Writing is becoming a lost art with people using abbreviations and emoticons in texts and emails and it is showing in important correspondence. Make sure your command of the English language shows in your resume and cover letters when job-hunting. Do so with spelling and punctuation, too. Make sure your online presence (LinkedIn, etc) has perfect grammar and punctuation.  Also, use your imagination when job hunting. I worked in a variety of jobs throughout my life but I always highlighted my excellent communication skills and my writing ability when interviewing. Having these skills will set you apart from the crowd. And keep reading... always!! You'll be surprised at the conversations about books and authors you will have with people in the business world.

To explore more of Sue's work check out her website at sueayers.com.

Brett Ashmun: Teaching Associate & Graduate Student

Name: Brett Ashmun

Age: 32

College & Majors/Minors: English (Undergraduate) Rhetoric and Composition (Graduate)

Current Location: Turlock, California

Current Form of Employment/Job Title: Full-Time Graduate Student/Teaching Associate

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I work at California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock, CA. I am a teaching associate.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

I started my first (and current) job in education as a teaching associate due to wonderful advice from my aunt who works in the financial aid department at UC Davis.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

As an undergraduate, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work as a tutor in the Writing Center at California State University, Stanislaus. Working as a writing tutor helped me become comfortable passing knowledge on to other writers, assessing students’ writing, and solidifying my own understanding of writing. Along with the benefits I mentioned, I also learned a lot about my particular approach to teaching writing.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

To put it simply, I built relationships. I have strong connections with many of my peers and professors. I have always been hesitant of the term “networking” because it implies a motive. I built relationships because I value the individuals who helped shape the man I am today. I am extremely thankful for the bonds I have forged during my education, and while many in academia will stress the importance of presenting at conferences and getting published, I think our main priority should be building genuine connections with human beings.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

In determining whether or not he should become a teacher, I once had a student ask me how much an English teacher makes. I explained to him that I teach for many reasons but money is not one of them. I then recommended that if he was going to decide on becoming a teacher depending on the pay, to find another career. I truly believe that the outcome of obtaining an English degree should be a better life. I don’t mean this from a financial viewpoint. Gaining an English degree is a privilege. It indicates that you appreciate life. You value your fellow human being. You cherish relationships over money.

““You are the rarity in a fast-paced world. You are the glue that holds society together. Own it.””

If I was looking to “get ahead,” gain as much wealth as possible, and live a quick-paced life, I would have decided to look into the majority of all other majors available. For me, it is important to slow down. It is important to listen to my breath. It is important to engage in quality conversation. My advice: don’t try to compete with business, engineering, or science majors. That is not you. Don’t try to make as much money as possible. You are the rarity in a fast-paced world. You are the glue that holds society together. Own it.

As a teacher, what is your work/life balance like?

As a graduate student and teaching associate, my schedule may look a little different than most teachers:

• A typical week begins in a graduate class on Monday morning. After class I have an hour break then I teach freshman composition. Once I finish teaching, I hold office hours from three until five then it is time to head home and begin preparing for the rest of the week.
• On Tuesday (ah Tuesday), I am off all day. Any teacher knows that by “off all day” that doesn’t mean I am off, but it does mean I usually do not have any obligations that require a shower or a change out of my pajamas.
• Wednesday is my long day. I attend class in the morning, teach in the afternoon, hold office hours, and then attend a three-hour graduate class in the evening.
• Thursday is somewhat of a prep day. My only obligation is a three-hour graduate class in the evening.
• On Friday, I teach in the afternoon and hold an open conferencing/workshop for any writing students from three to five.

While what I have mentioned are on the top of my list of priorities, I also have a book I’m trying to write, try to get published whenever possible, and deal with long phone calls from my mom and father-in-law. Lost in all of the busyness are my fiancée and my black Labrador. They truly keep me sane and are the best friends a man can ask for.

To sample some of Brett's writing, check out Effigiesmag.com. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn. 

---

---

READ MORE:

Jasara Hines: AP English Literature Teacher & Associate Professor

Frances McCue: Writer, Lecturer & Arts Instigator

Rebecca Andruszka: Director of Development & Communications

Frances McCue: Writer, Lecturer & Arts Instigator

Photo courtesy of Mary Randlett

Name: Frances McCue

Age: 52

College & Majors/Minors: English Major

Current Location: Seattle, WA

Current Form of Employment: writing, teaching, instigating.

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I have three streams to my work river: I write poems and prose which I publish in books and in magazines or journals. I am an Arts Instigator who helps individuals and organizations start or sustain creative projects. And my third stream is as a Senior Lecturer and the Writer in Residence in the University Honors Program at the University of Washington.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

When I was in high school I took a summer job cutting trails and doing a tree sampling project for the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. I lived in the woods and took showers at Falling Water, Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural wonder. I got it through a family member. My first internship as a writer was actually as a “distribution manager.” I took literary magazines around San Francisco on my bike, delivering them to bookstores and coffee shops. I actually have never really had an actual job as a writer, but all of my teaching and administrative jobs have demanded that I write well.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

I was the Founding Director of Richard Hugo House, a literary center in Seattle. A friend from college said, “Wow. You have a job running a place that brings in famous writers AND it has a bar? Sounds like a dream situation.” Truly.

““Look for new economic models for sustaining a life in literature and writing. In other words, skip applying for academic jobs and don’t bank on the novel becoming a best seller.””

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

I hosted a lot of parties. I was interested in bringing people from all different parts of campus, with all sorts of interests, together. I still do that!

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

Look for new economic models for sustaining a life in literature and writing. In other words, skip applying for academic jobs and don’t bank on the novel becoming a best seller. Find work that relies on the THINKING and WRITING skills you’ve acquired, rather than the direct passage into the literature industry. Everything is changing; we’re all going “Adjunct.” And, if you know that, and you work it, you might find some great opportunities in piecing things together!

To learn more about Frances McCue's work, check out her website, FrancesMcCue.com. You can also connect with her on LinkedIn. 

Calling all English teachers and professors! We want your input.

While many English majors may be tired of hearing the age-old "So, are you going to be an English teacher?" question, many have the privilege to answer "Yes! Yes, I am going to be an English teacher."

Of course, having an English degree does not automatically qualify anyone to become an English teacher (but we're preaching to the choir here, aren't we?). Dear English Major would love to provide some insight to those who are interested in becoming English teachers, English professors, and educators from those who know best. 

We will be sharing a compilation of your experiences, advice and insight in an upcoming blog post on DearEnglishMajor.com. If you wish you share more about your experience of becoming an English teacher, please submit a separate inquiry on our CONTRIBUTE page. Thank you for encouraging and helping to inform aspiring teachers!

Lucas M. Peters: Freelance Writer & Lecturer

Name: Lucas M. Peters

Age: 36

College & Majors/Minors: UW ('03, BA, English Lit), Central Washington University ('07, MA, English Lit), Goddard College ('14, MFA, Creative Writing - Novel)

Current Location: Morocco

Current Form of Employment: Freelance Writer and Lecturer

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I teach World Literature, Moroccan Literature and English Composition at Al Akhawayn University (AUI) in Ifrane, Morocco. It's a small university (college, really, but they call themselves a university) of about 2,000 students. I've also been doing quite a bit of freelancing travel writing and just a couple of months ago signed a contract with Avalon Publishing to write their guidebook for Morocco under their "Moon" brand. The book will be titled "Moon Morocco" and should be out in the fall of 2015. Which means that my mornings, weekends and vacations are spent either writing or traveling around to weird little corners of Morocco. This weekend, I'll be in Larache, a little-visited fishing village where the notorious French writer, Jean Genet, is buried.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

My first job was selling comic books and sport cards at a little kiosk in the middle of Southcenter Mall. I was 13 at the time. It was pretty great. When there weren't any customers, I could read the latest comics. I was really into Image at the time and tore through Spawn, Gen-13, Pitt and a bunch of their other titles.

I guess my first "real" job was in 2007. I just graduated from CWU with my MA and was tired of waiting tables and bar tending (something I had been doing for the better part of a decade to pay the rent). I scoured Craigslist, applying to jobs in Seattle, NYC, SF, Boston and a bunch of other places. I ended up interviewing with Business Wire in San Francisco for a position as an editor. On my application, I lied and said that I already lived in San Francisco. At the time, I had about $200 in my bank account. I used it to fly down for the interview and slept on my cousin's couch and kept my fingers crossed. They called me back, I interviewed again, and they offered me a job.

I loved SF, but I hated the fact that I only had three weeks of vacation a year, only three weeks to really get out of the city and explore. I have an insatiable travel bug and after two years of humdrum cubicle life at Business Wire, I was like, "Man... I gotta get outta here." I started looking around for teaching jobs thinking I might land a job at a Community College somewhere in California but what I got was a series of rejections. The only sort of full-time teaching work I found were in places in the middle of nowhere, like the Aleutian Islands or North Dakota. I figured that if I was going to have to move to teach, I might as well make it interesting. I started casting a wider net, looking at Southeast Asia, Europe, et cetera. I ended up getting a couple of offers and took the teaching job here in Morocco. It seemed like the most interesting place to live, the food was supposed to be really good and, to be frank, it was really close to Europe.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

A couple of years ago, some friends of mine who run a tour company for Morocco (Journey Beyond Travel) were looking for someone to write brief city guides for their clients. They asked me if I was interested. I said yes. It didn't pay much, but it was the first "real" sort of travel writing that I did. This ended up opening up a few more doors. It's largely because of this that I got the job with Avalon to write the guidebook for Morocco.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

I started at the UW in 1996 and I was a really bad student as an undergraduate, especially my first year or two. I rarely went to classes. I even skipped a midterm for Italian. I was too busy trying to figure out how to balance working and the social life with school. It wasn't until I figured out how to study, how to show up to class, how to really take advantage of being a student that I started to have some measure of success. In 2001, I signed up for a study abroad trip to London. This was the first time I had been out of the U.S. and it was eye-opening. I remember enjoying the classes. We went to see performances by the Royal Shakespeare Company and had a class that met at a different corner of London every week and we toured some specific part of the city. However, it wasn't the classes so much as what I was learning about myself. Being away from everything you know does that. There was a sense of independence, a sense of solitude, a sense of being lost, and a sense of discovery that was all wrapped up in the seven months or so I spent there. More than anything, this was the thing that probably has prepared me the most for post-grad life, though to be fair, I did have four different majors (Business, Music, Art and finally, English) and the ability to float from major to major aided this discovery process.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

In this economy, you can't be afraid to move. I know too many people that have wrapped their minds around living in one place and they end up struggling. They compromise career goals and take some other types of jobs just so they can continue living in a place that is comfortable, with their family or friends or whatever.

My advice is to get out of the comfort zone and start looking not so much as where you want to live, but what you want to do. In the end, I feel this is the thing that makes people happier. If you can do the thing that you love... that's the secret.

Visit Lucas M. Peters on his website & follow him on Twitter.

Nathaniel Tower: Internet Marketing Specialist

Name: Nathaniel Tower

Age: 32

College & Majors/Minors: Washington University in St. Louis; Majors in English Literature and Secondary Education; Minor in Writing

Current Location: Minneapolis

Current Form of Employment: Full-time Internet Marketing Specialist

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I'm currently an internet marketing specialist at a web design agency called First Scribe. We're a small agency with about 25 employees. I manage the accounts of 15 or so clients, which involves SEO, email marketing, content marketing, reporting, and more. The position requires a balance of verbal and written communication skills. As with any job involving clients, customer service is the key ingredient to success. All the technical skills in the world won't help if you can't adequately communicate with the client. I'm also now in charge of the company's blog, which is one of my favorite parts of the job.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

When I graduated from college, I landed a high school teaching job in St. Charles, MO. Even though I went to college with the intent of becoming a teacher, getting a teaching job was no easy feat. I mailed an application packet (resume, transcripts, cover letter, portfolio samples, letters of recommendation) to just about every school district I could think of in the St. Louis metro area. That's right, mailed. As in stuffed papers in big envelopes, licked them shut, and slapped postage on them. No one accepted electronic applications then, so I spent a fortune on stamps. I had plenty of interviews, but it seemed almost impossible to find employment. Everyone wanted experience, but how do you get experience unless someone will hire you when you don't have experience?

When an opening at the school where I student taught popped up, I thought for sure I was going to get the job. The principal even told me I was guaranteed to get the opening unless someone with "ten years of teaching experience and a PhD" came along. When I got the phone call telling me they were hiring someone else, the conversation went something like this:

Me: So how much experience does he have?

Him: Two years.

Me: So he must have a PhD, right?

Him: No, just a Bachelor's.

Ouch. I had been bamboozled. But the principal promised he would help me get a job. A few weeks later, I called him and said I was applying for a job in another school district. Turned out he knew the associate principal there. Turned out the associate principal went to the same college as me. Are you surprised to hear I got the job?

I held that teaching job for 9 years before my wife and I decided we needed a change of scenery. So we quit our jobs and packed up and moved to Minneapolis. Because of some roadblocks with the Minnesota Department of Education, I decided to end my teaching career and look for a new career. I applied for everything that had writing in the title. It eventually paid off, and here we are.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

In 2008, I founded a literary magazine called Bartleby Snopes. We publish 8 pieces of fiction per week, along with two print best-of issues. We also publish tiny books called flash novels. It's not a "job" in the money-making sense, but it has plenty of reward. It's made me a better writer and a better editor. I'm also much more organized and much better at marketing. I'm sure it played at least a small role in landing my current job.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

Not as much as I should have, that's for sure. I spent the first year of college skipping classes and thinking I was too smart for everything. Then I started to get serious, which meant going to class and writing all my papers at the last minute. I never spent a minute at the university's career center, and I only spoke to my advisor during the required bi-yearly sessions. The one thing I did right was get a summer job as a "teacher" in a summer school program. I had the attitude that I knew what I wanted to do and that it wouldn't be that hard to get a job. And now I'm doing something I never imagined I would do, something that barely even existed when I was in college.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

1. Don't listen to anyone who tells you an English degree is useless. The world we live in struggles with communication. An English degree has a lot of value because it tells the world you can communicate. There are many job opportunities that require some amount of writing.
2. Value your talents. There are a million freelancing opportunities that pay practically nothing. Don't accept jobs that don't pay you what you're worth.
3. Be willing to explore new opportunities. Don't assume an English major has to be a novelist, journalist, or teacher. Every business needs to have something written. An English major can write anything. Believe it or not, the biggest obstacle to launching a website isn't approving the designs. It's finding a person to write all the content.

Check out Nathaniel Tower's writing (and juggling!) blog at nathanieltower.com, visit his Amazon author page, connect with him on LinkedIn and follower him on Twitter!

Allison Christine Ryals: Middle School English Teacher

Name: Allison Christine Ryals

Age: 25

College & Majors/Minors: BA English from McNeese State University, MAT from Northwestern State University

Current Location: Lake Charles, LA

Current Form of Employment/Job Title: Middle School English teacher

Where do you work and what is your current position?

7th grade ELA teacher at Lake Charles Charter Academy in Lake Charles, LA. I am also the Speech Coach.

Tell us about how you found your job!

I found this job by the grace of God! I applied at every single school in the state of Louisiana, but since I did not have a teacher certification at the time, no one wanted to give me a chance. I was working part-time at Sylvan Learning tutoring students when I met someone who said the charter school was hiring. I applied the next day and was hired! The application process was not that difficult. It was the usual paperwork. The interview was detailed. I was asked about my teaching methods and about where I stood on certain issues in education. I was also asked about classroom management since the position I was taking was only available since the last teacher walked out. That was October 1, 2012. Since then, I have grown so much as a teacher and a person. My colleagues are truly my family. I love coming to work every day. I have also had other schools that have heard about me call and ask if I would work for them, but I am not ready to leave this wonderful family!

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

I am not quite there yet since I am working on my Master’s degree. I graduate in May and am excited that I will not have homework! I will actually have time to relax and read regular books instead of textbooks.

What has been the most surprising thing about being a teacher?

The most surprising thing about being a teacher is the fact that relationships with students are sometimes more important than the content. When I began teaching, I thought that since I knew the content, then I would be fine. I could be an awesome teacher. It doesn’t matter how much you know. Students do not care what you want to teach them if they do not like you. I spend the first two weeks of school each year building relationships with my students because they will work so much harder for me if they know that I truly care about them. A relationship with a student takes a teacher so much further than any amount of content knowledge.

---

READ MORE:

Elizabeth Kirsch: High School English Teacher

Jasara Hines: AP English Literature Teacher & Associate Professor

Rachel Nenna: 5th Grade ELA/SS Teacher & Online English Adjunct Professor

Rachel Nenna: 5th Grade ELA/SS Teacher & Online English Adjunct Professor

Name: Rachel Nenna

Age: 32

College & Majors/Minors: English Literature (Masters), English Language and Literature (BA)

Current Location: Dallas, TX

Current Form of Employment: 5th Grade ELA/SS Teacher & Online English Adjunct Professor

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I currently teach at two different schools. I teach 5th grade ELA/SS at International Leadership of Texas (ILTexas) in Garland, TX and online at Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ). ILTexas is a charter school with three locations in its second year of operation. It is a dual language school with a wonderful educational program and athletic program. I teach six classes with 26 students in each. I see three classes each day and see the same three classes for one week and switch to the other three the following week. It is a lot of work, but I love teaching them all. I will be helping to write the CSAs (regular testing school’s give in Texas) starting tomorrow. I am in my first year with ILTexas.

I also teach three-four classes online for FSCJ, and I just completed my fourth year working at the college. I have taught Pre Composition, Composition I, Writing Nonfiction, and Tech Report Writing. A few semesters ago I wrote the current Tech Report Writing class that is used by all of Open Campus (online part of the college).

Tell us about how you found your job! How many places did you apply? What was the application process like?

With FSCJ, I went up to one of the satellite campuses and then made appointments with all of the close campuses.  From those visits I gained a full course load. I was in Florida for two years, and then moved to Texas. Before I left Florida, I started teaching one online course (Tech Report Writing). I talked with the Open Campus dean about continuing to teach online courses and that is how I got my full course load online. 

I got my job at ILTexas through my friend who works there. It was a ‘who you know’ situation, but I nailed the interview!

When we first moved to Florida, I applied to over 100 jobs in two local school districts. I got called in for one interview and did not get the job. I decided then to use my Masters, and that is how I started teaching college.

When I moved back to Texas, I felt like I was in the same situation. I got a job at a private school (Dallas International) teaching PreK and Kindergarten. I then took a few months off after having my second child. Then I finally got in teaching at a local state college.

I had a life "aha" moment and realized I would get no where in that job without a PhD, so I tried looking for a job at an elementary school or middle school.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

I knew that once I got my AA in Business that teaching was my calling, so when I moved to Texas from Maine (my husband is in the Navy) I knew I had to get a move on with trying to become a teacher. I enrolled in an alternative teaching program through Region 10, while earning my Masters online and substituting in the local school district where I got my first teaching job (again, I knew the principal and that is how I got my first teaching job).

What has been the most surprising thing about being a teacher?

The most surprising thing about being a teacher is that my job is never done. Parents and students alike want to talk to me all the time, even after hours. They always want second chances and understanding of why their work is late. It is a tiring job that never stops, much like how New York never sleeps. Teaching is like breathing, it cannot stop for whatever reason. I am always so tired and feel like I am forgetting to do something, because most likely I am, but I love my job. I know I have made a difference when I see the light bulb go off in my students’ eyes and when the college students recommend me to their friends. That is when I know I have made a true difference.