FOR FUTURISTIC CONSIDERATION:
                       AN EXPLORATION OF CAREERS IN WRITING
​                                                                      by
                                                           Amanda Spadel

​
​Thinking about careers is stressful--especially if you’re not entirely sure what you want to do after you graduate. If you’re like me, it’s often easier to push the thought aside for a while...or even for the majority of your time in college.

Well guess who’s a graduating senior now? Me. Looks like it’s time to finally start considering possibilities.

One of my tasks as a Writing Arts Department intern was to contact alumni and ask them about their lives and careers since graduating from Rowan. Conversations that I had with the alumni gave me confidence that I would also be successful--even if I’m not all that sure where I’m going to end up in the professional world.

It turns out that Writing Arts alumni have a wide variety of jobs ranging from singing and songwriting, digital storytelling, teaching, copywriting, publishing, web design and development, freelance, and so much more. The possibilities are endless. Writers are lucky because there are millions of things to write about!

Writing Arts graduate Katelyn Catinella says: “Lots of companies need writers, and a surprising amount of people just aren’t that great at communicating through text. If you’re passionate about something—whether it’s fashion or computers or sports or anything in between—opportunities exist in which you can about those things. The best part? Someone will actually pay you to do it.”

Many alumni also decided to continue their education after Rowan, and concentrate in more specific fields. For example, Jessica Tuckerman received her BA and MA from Rowan, and is working towards her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Sierra Nevada College. Also, Mary Elizabeth Boccolini received her BA from Rowan, and is now going to Rutgers in New Brunswick to get her Master of Information degree in Data Science.

I learned that declaring a specialization, concentration, and/or minor is useful because it allows you to focus in on an area of writing that you’re interested in. Jessica mentions how her Writing Arts degrees and new media specialization have impacted her career path: “A lot of the field requires an understanding of new media and how the web works. Together, those fields have broadened what I am able to do. I'm no longer limited to editorial, I can branch out to marketing, PR, and event design.” ​

Another thing that I learned is that maybe I spend too much time stressing about getting things “right” and “knowing everything.” Mary says: “Don’t worry about knowing everything about the field by the time you graduate. You will learn so much more on the job, so I think it is important to be open to learning for the rest of your life, not just while you are in school.

After talking to some of the Writing Arts alumni, it calmed my nerves a bit to know that the opportunities ahead of me aren’t limited in any way. No--I still don’t know what exact career path I’ll find myself on, but I’m happy with the major that I picked. I know that the possibilities from here are endless, and that makes me feel less uneasy about graduation.