Writing After College
January 29, 2014 Writing is something that I enjoy doing. Whether it be creatively or writing a research paper. I always figured that after college I would continue my education and go on to graduate school where I would obtain a masters in education. I loved all the writing classes I had taken in high school as an elective course and thought, if I love something, and I could find students who did too, why not teach it! Yet, after taking advertising and public relation courses, through my time here at Rowan, I have found that I have other options other than just teaching. I could work for an advertising company, work for a magazine, or become a copy editor. Each of these jobs have one thing in common and thats writing. They all need someone to write and think creatively and that is something I know I could excel in. After reading the article “Welcome to the Real World- 10 things college writing classes don’t teach you about the writing life--but should,” by Steve Salerno I had to say I have had a different experience in college then he tends to write about. Maybe it is because the majority of my professors prepared me for the real world. I know that I will receive plenty of no’s before I get that one yes. What one person thinks about my writing another person may think differently and I am okay with that because it will only make me a stronger writer. I know that before I begin to write on a topic, that topic deserves research and understanding. In the article Salerno states, “The big-money opportunities are in giving readers priceless info … not your 2 cents. Because so many colleges teach writing through the medium of the personal essay--or heaven help us, the "thesis paper" (see #10)--academically trained writers often fall into the trap of writing pretty much off the tops of their heads.” I know that my job would not be just to sit at a computer screen and begin to type and hope that google will guide the way. So his list of ten things did not scare me as much as it motivated me to just work harder at what I love to do, write. |
Grad School, that is the question.
January 31, 2014 Grad school is something that I toss back and forth. I am not sure if it is something that is for me, but it is something that I always that I would do after completing my undergrad. When I originally began college my major was education, yet after my transfer to Rowan that put that dream and major on hold. I choose Writing Arts as my major because I enjoy reading books and writing my own short stories and this major was the only one that allowed me to explore both. As my time here at Rowan is coming to an end I feel a sense of panic unsure of what it is I could do with my major. So rather then panic and complain I began to look into my options, one being grad school. If I chose to go to Grad school then I could obtain a Masters degree in Early Elementary Education, teaching students from Pre-k to third grade. Yet, would I get a job? It is obvious that although furthering my education will help me, it could also harm me. I would be less marketable to school districts looking for teachers because they would have to pay be more based on my degree. I am just so confused as to what it is I want to do, but I have sometime to look into and think before I make a decision. |
Creative Writing Degree, Who Knew?
February 10,2014 I always thought that writing creatively was nothing more then a hobby. Yet, when I transferred to Rowan I learns that it was much more. Many students actually had the opportunity to major in writing giving them a plethora of different creative writing classes. When I learned of this I jumped to the chance and changed my major to Writing Arts. In the article entitled, Do You Need a Creative Writing Degree to Succeed as a Writer? It states that it is not necessary to obtain a degree in creative writing. Yet, I believe if you are interested in writing and hope to one day write a book, novel, children story or even teach the subject then a degree in Creative Writing is a plus. Each class challenges your writing and has you step out of your comfort zone to try new things you would not normally try. Like any other major, Writing could become very intense. It may not require four hours of studying for every subject but it requires four hours of focus on one piece while trying to think of a different topic to write for another. No story is every repeated, unlike math problems adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing are all down the same way every time. Writing is not like that. You need to write each story different form the other, and they have to be your own. Writing style cannot be taught it is something you learn as you continue to write and push your self to try new things. |
Rejection Can Teach A valuable Lesson
February 17, 2014 Rejection is something that everyone fears. Whether it be from a crush, a university rejecting your admissions, or a job it all makes people cringe. Yet, one thing that everyone gains from rejection is a little bit of confidence. Although you may be thinking how did a no help me gain confidence. Well that isn’t the only crush your going to have, that wasn’t the only University you applied to and that wasn’t the only job you sent your resume too. When one door closes another opens. It may be cliche yet it is so true. Much of the writing that I may think is my best work will get rejected by many publishers but that doesn’t mean it was awful. It just means that someone else out there is waiting to read my piece, I just need to hear a few no’s before I will get that one yes. Many well known authors heard plenty of no’s before they were published and that never stopped them. LIke everything else in life, it just takes some time. |
Don’t Sell Yourself Short
February 19, 2014 Many people probably have the same mentality as I do, first impressions re better in person than paper. Although this is true it is also a wrong way of thinking. As a writing major you should feel that you have the upper hand. Getting your point across on paper is a specialty. It is something you have done in academic papers as well as both fiction and non fiction. A cover letter is a great opportunity to sell yourself to a hiring committee. You want to capture their attention by giving them a short introduction of who you are as a writer and something that is unique and sets you apart from others. This letter should capture their attention not only with the story you tell but have an eye appeal. You don’t want to have a fancy font or added colors. You want to make sure that when they look at the cover letter they are able the important information such as your name and contact information. Cover letters could also be used when wanting to get your writing published. This is known as a query letter. This letter has the same purpose as the cover letter,you are selling something. You are selling your writing. You want to give the publisher a reasons why he should publish you. Why and how your writing sets sort from others. Don’t be scared of rejection! Just know that maybe the crowd of people or person you are selling yourself to may not be look ing for what you can give but there is some other company that ail find your writing or cover letter unique. And that is a greater feeling then those few rejections! |
Social Media could Effect
February 24, 2014 Social media networks were made for people to keep in contact with friends and families. Yet, throughout the years it has managed to turn into a way for people to vent their problems and post pictures of crazy drinking nights despite their age. All the while people are posting these things, employers and university are monitoring them. In high school, my mother use to always say to me, "don't post things you wouldn't want to share with your grandmother." With that in mind, I use to be embarrassed and scared to post pictures of being out with friends. As I entered college, social media took a different twist and turned into a popularity contest. People where posting pictures of them drinking and partying, or posting pictures of drunk friends doing crazy things. Many of my college professor began voicing opinions how we should monitor our social medias. Their argument was, " if we could see it, imagine what your future employees could see." The worry of not being able to obtain a job because of pictures I posted or was tagged in on my social media made me worry. I considered deleting my social medias. Then I thought if employers asked if I had a social media and I said no would it make it seem as if I had something to hide? Would they not hire me because I did not have one? Or if I did have one would they not hire me because of something I posted on their? I have found that as long as I keep my social media to the standards of being able to be friends with my family, old and new friends, and not being ashamed if a future employee friended me, I have nothing to worry about. I do not have any "what If," questions because I make sure that nothing that is posted or tagged on my social media is something I wouldn't want my grandmother to see. |
Lets Discuss !
February 25,2014 1. Is an internship something you have thought about doing? If so why or why not? 2. In the article entitled "4 internships you can apply for," it states that applying for an internship after college is something that will help you gain professional experience and contacts. Although an internship after college would help you boost your resume and help you gain hands on experience, it is not a forever job. Would you consider a internship after college or would you prefer one that you could gain credits for while you were in college? 3. Internships are meant to give you experience in a field you potentially see yourself working in or to help you gain experience. When applying for an internship would you only consider the ones that pay you? Why or why not? |