I chose to go with a more plain template to give off an aura of professionalism for my site. I also structured the artifacts I chose to reflect some of my strongest skills like critical thinking, problem solving, empathy, analysis, and synthesis. For the traditional paper, I chose the first major paper I wrote at CofC because it reflects my propensity to defend unconventional topics. Because of this, the paper required an extensive amount of research to defend my thesis, which shows my dedication and willingness to confront difficult tasks. For the genre remediation, I chose a video essay I constructed surrounding a research paper I wrote for a film noir class. I felt this project really embodied my ability to work across multiple mediums. For the free artifact option, I chose a paper I wrote for my American Gothic Literature class, but I divided it up into three separate blog posts to make it more online audience friendly. I think these blog posts show my interest in a variety of topics like racism in America, patriarchal values and their impact, and mental health in gothic film. I also added the delights blog post from this class to make my site a bit more personable. And I also chose to include the alum interview I conducted to show my interest in pursuing law. The other posts I included, like a short story and my poetry, show my willingness to be forthcoming in who I am as a person and will aid my audience in feeling like they know me as an individual. I plan to add my study abroad experiences in both Mexico City, where I studied indigenous and Spanish history, and Rome, where I’ll be studying law this July. Heres the link to my blog: juliannabhullar.wordpress.com !
Born and raised in Summerville, South Carolina, Hope Bergquist, a 2005 English alumna of College of Charleston had much to say about her experience at The College when I interviewed her. We covered her experience in the English department, as well as her life before and after, which all paved her path in becoming Senior Commercial Counsel at Zscaler, an IT security company offering enterprise cloud security services.
After attending high school in Summerville, Hope started college at the University of South Carolina. For her at this time, the distance from home was important for her independence. However, she found herself returning to Charleston on many occasions to soak up the coastal environment and downtown Charleston. She said, “I have so many more memories and connections with Charleston” so she decided to transfer to the College of Charleston. At the start of her junior year she began taking classes through the English department and immediately, she knew the change was a positive one.
When asked about how this transition went for her, she said, “I immediately was fully immersed in the English Department. The quality of the professors was phenomenal… [The College] was much closer to a small school atmosphere where I was getting lots of direct connections with students and professors… and I truly learned more.” Her favorite class at College of Charleston covered The Romantic Period, and her professor Bishop Hunt was such a profound influence in her academic studies that she took more of his classes afterward. He was a “larger than life kind of figure but very humble and kind of quiet… he kind of reminded me of an old English man..” she said while smiling.
“He was very thoughtful and did a nice job at challenging you to think about something in a different way… I really respected his opinion.. His classes were so enlightening.”
Hope also took one of Dr Myra Seaman’s first classes at College of Charleston. She said of Dr Seaman, “she was really new and she was great.” Additionally, while Hope thoroughly enjoyed learning about her favorite genres and authors of literature, like the Romantic Period and Chaucer, she was also very interested in “learning about the history surrounding when different pieces were written.. And what was going on outside of the [authors] lives that inspired their writing.” For her, it wasn’t only about analyzing written texts, but also understanding what was happening socially, politically, and culturally at the time of their conceptions.
In addition to being an English major, Hope was also a Historic Preservation minor. In one of the classes she took through this minor, she participated in the efforts of putting a historic downtown building on the historic preservation registry. She also interned with the Art Department for the Antique Symposium hosted each spring where she put together mailers, fielded calls from participants, as well as helped direct people and answer any questions they had at the event.
Then when graduation rolled around, she had already attended many career fairs and participated in interviews but was not exactly sure of what she wanted to pursue next. So, Hope decided to take some time off from academics and step into the working world. For her, “If you would’ve asked me at twenty-two what I wanted to do with my life, it would’ve been something completely different,” therefore looking back on this decision, Hope is grateful. She took odd jobs in stores and companies, one where she was an office manager, but it was her paralegal job in Alabama working for a construction defect litigator which had a most profound influence.
Her experience in court helped her see that life as a litigator was most likely not the path for her, but “the design and architecture element” piqued her interest and had her thinking about law school. Her experience as a paralegal was informed by her English degree as the job consisted of the “natural process of structuring sentences.” Law felt like her niche, and all her experience both academic and professional up to that point in time gave her the knowledge she needed for taking her next steps. Hope decided to return to Charleston and attend the Charleston School of Law with an interest in environmental law.
During her time in law school, Hope knew the experience of study abroad opportunities was invaluable. Therefore, she began searching for such experiences. She found a position to work with a Supreme Court justice in Ireland, but the timing didn’t align. Instead, she chose to study in Greece through Tulane University, during which she studied Maritime Law. Though it was an introductory course, she learned much about how maritime law has many similarities to U.S. law and differing aspects as well in legal proceedings. This knowledge equipped her with the skills to participate in Charleston School of Law’s moot court competition involving Maritime Law.
After graduating from law school, Hope clerked for a judge in Walterboro, South Carolina. During which, she provided legal counsel regarding the Alex Murdaugh case. After taking some time off after this clerkship, she then joined a law firm and gained more experience solidifying her decision to not pursue litigation. After trial and error, she decided she wanted to be a transactional lawyer and began working for Zscaler as she also had an interest in technology. There, she negotiates contracts with mostly high-profile and complex customers. With each customer, she “think[s] through how the contract impacts all parties [to come up with] the correct language on both sides.” In each of her endeavors, Hope has been informed by the priceless skills she learned while at the College of Charleston.
These skills include but are not limited to writing, creativity, reading comprehension, and attention to detail. In her current position at Zscaler, she says she’s “not speed reading.. It’s slow and there’s times where it’s tedious [because] everything is interconnected… [I’m] reading slowly but only to make sure [I’m] being thorough and catching all the details.” Her analytical skills learned through studying literature have aided her in creating contracts in which both sides “have language that works for them and [where] it allocates the responsibilities and risks [effectively] for [everyone].”
Hope currently resides in South Carolina where she’s closer to her family and is raising children with her husband. She works from home for Zscaler, which affords her the flexibility to manage her many responsibilities. Her experience at College of Charleston and the Charleston School of Law gave her many invaluable opportunities and skills which have positioned her well in her current line of work as a transactional lawyer.
I’ve always had a knack for writing. I remember asking my mother for a typewriter when I was in the first grade. Once I got my hands on it, eight-year-old me was disappointed to realize that I didn’t have the vocabulary and sophistication to translate what I felt and thought onto paper in the way I wished to. It was slightly discouraging. However, I grew into this skill with experience and time. In the seventh grade, a poem I wrote about my Marine brother was published in a national student poetry collection. Novels and poems fascinated my young, overactive, and sensitive mind. I found solace in stories, but when it came time to apply to college I took a different route.
Following in the footsteps of my older brother Shawn, who was very influential in my personal growth from the age of sixteen, I joined the Air Force. While serving, I was a C-130J loadmaster in Jacksonville, Arkansas. I was very successful, earning accolades in my profession, and I developed many leadership skills that became essential to my worldview and how I operate. However, I had somewhat neglected my passion for written words. After honorably separating, I was in a sort of dilemma when it came to choosing my bachelor’s major for college. I wanted job security, but I also wanted to explore literature in more depth. After much thought, I decided to follow my heart by choosing English as my major.
Through this major, I learned much about literature, but I also realized that I was fascinated with film. Therein I spent years analyzing, dissecting, and synthesizing literature and film. The first in-depth research paper I wrote was during my Introduction to English Studies class at College of Charleston. I chose to focus on defending the stance that manga should be included in literary study and designated higher categorization. From this research paper, which required in depth critical thinking and problem-solving, a passion for the unconventional was born.
I prioritized the remainder of my classes on literary and film topics which embodied the unconventional. One of these classes was German Cinema in Exile: Film Noir, during which I learned the making of these films focused on displacement and perception. As an Air Force veteran, I was very intrigued by the themes of displacement and reintegration in WWII Veteran Noir films. For my research paper in this class, I analyzed in-depth The Blue Dahlia (1946) and Act of Violence (1948) with mental health as a main concern. This solidified for me even more that I have a niche for defending the unconventional: works, ideas, and opinions that are often overlooked or misunderstood.
Like George Anders states in his 2017 book ‘You Can Do Anything: The Surprising Power of a “Useless” Liberal Arts Education,’ I was continually finding myself “ripe for an unusual new challenge” which is a unique disposition all employers seek out in applicants. My character developed as a child engaging with stories, adapting to a new environment as an Air Force loadmaster, and as a student in literary and film studies exemplifies I’m “bound to…leap into the unknown” (83). Moreover, I’ve found immense joy in doing so.
By focusing on the unconventional, I’ve developed a deeper understanding of myself as well as those unlike myself. This reflects my propensity for and development of empathy and improvisation, which are key in any workplace. I also took an American Gothic Literature class, which focused heavily on how gothic works raise essential questions in modern society from racism, patriarchal values, perception, and mental health. Analyzing and writing about the unconventional transitions smoothly into the workforce as many employers are looking for those “wanting to work on the frontier, being able to find insights, choosing the right approach, reading the room, and inspiring others” (179). This natural inclination of mine has been honed through my military background and studies of literature and film at College of Charleston.
Like Christian Madsbjerg states in his 2017 book ‘Sensemaking: The Power of the Humanities in the Age of the Algorithm,’ in a rapidly developing world focused on progressivism, “we need to learn through experience, and what we learn doesn’t have the same precision, rigor, or consistency as algorithms” (xi). Through my studies and focus on the unconventional, I’ve developed a deep understanding of social culture and “unspoken rules,” human behavior in greater cultural context, complexities which exist in our world, observation and theory making, as well as assumptions versus interpretation and strategy.
In any field, it’s paramount to be able “to understand new and unfamiliar contexts– political, technological, cultural– and to interpret their place in our increasingly interdependent world” (22). My studies and skills I’ve developed along the way have positioned me well for conquering such challenges. Additionally, my experience in the Air Force and in executive leadership positions on-campus have honed my capacities for communicating with a wide variety of people from multiple backgrounds. While I was in the Air Force, I was in charge of leading others to ensure safe loading and airdrop procedures of cargo on a multi-million dollar aircraft. I exemplified the skills necessary to complete multiple objectives and work well under pressure. Moreover, on-campus leadership positions further developed my skills to adapt, re-invent, communicate effectively, and accomplish associated goals. As an English major, I’ve been met with many challenges, but I’ve mastered the skills necessary to overcome them. Though I’m not entirely sure what I want to pursue next, my experiences will translate immensely well in the professional sphere and I’ll be a key asset to whichever profession I choose.
Who are we without sharing stories? Narratives are the way that we, as human beings, connect with one another. Stories transcend time. As an English major, I have developed a unique lens to see stories in their original contexts while applying their valuable lessons to life today. Working up the ladder of a four-year English degree has helped me cultivate the skills to comprehend all sorts of texts, but my intrinsic desire to discover the stories of humankind propels my education further.
My English story begins, like most inclined to the subject, as a child. I felt things very deeply and putting myself in the shoes of new characters I loved, was a release for me then and still is today. Stories have always had a way of imprinting on me. I absorbed the feelings of the characters I read about.. It got to the point where if I was so enwrapped in a book, I would have dreams and sometimes nightmares about these characters or plots. As Simple as It Seems, a devastating story about a girl with fetal alcohol syndrome, was one I was particularly emotional about as a third grader. My mom and grandmother fostered my skill of reading comprehension as a child and were happy to talk about whatever book I was reading.
Going forward, I excelled in grammar, writing, and reading while I suffered in math. I knew what I loved and stuck with it. When I got to the College of Charleston, the obvious choice would be to pursue an English major. I don’t feel that I really need to defend the viability of my degree because in today’s world, having a deep knowledge of language, how it develops and translates through time, and the ways we use it as a society is irreplaceable. With AI on the rise, being able to communicate your experiences in your voice by writing will be a valuable asset.
While at the College of Charleston, I have had the chance to develop my communication skills. One of my favorite examples of my work is a conversation about censorship. During my junior year, our Young Adult Fiction class read the story Fun Home, which is a graphic memoir about a young girl’s journey with identity, family, and trauma. I expected nothing out of this book since this was my first ever graphic novel. But after learning about its complicated history at the College, I was compelled by the story. Back in 2013, Fun Home was assigned as the summer reading book for the incoming freshman class. Due to homosexual depictions, legislators and parents wanted the book banned because they saw these illustrations as pornographic. I decided to write my paper on sex, literature, and censorship and define the way we view pornography and art in this society. The paper was recently nominated to be presented as a poster for CofC’s English Day. I felt it was important to resurface the work and remind students that even our liberal arts college was at the center of censorship and homophobia anxiety.
Turning the paper into a poster was quite challenging. I tried my best to preserve the essence of my arguments while creating a beautiful graphic to capture the attention of English Day attendees. Translating a traditional analysis paper into a poster form was an excellent way to show my adaptability and digital literacy.
Adaptability is undoubtedly a skill that English students hold. We read, process, apply information, and synthesize arguments. In the process of doing this, we adapt our language over and over to communicate our thoughts and feelings most effectively. On another level, English majors are almost forced to adapt to the world because there is no set career path to follow. Although I am not the biggest fan of change, it is something I have learned to accept as an English degree holder. As Richard N. Bolles writes in What Color is. Your Parachute, “Change is not nearly as hard as you think it is. Not changing can be deadly.” (78) I completely agree with this sentiment. As I set out on a career seemingly unrelated to anything of the English world, I remind myself of the value of change and what it offers you in the long run. Although this change into a business-oriented word is a bit daunting, I know that my skills as an English major are complementary and transferable.
Currently, I have been dedicating multiple hours per week to job hunting and interviewing. The process isn’t easy but I know that I will find a match soon. Richard Bolles says, ”Job hunting is, or should be, a full-time job” (88). For me, this is accurate because of the competitive nature of the sales industry. There is a ton of rejection when it comes to sales. George Anders, author of You Can Do Anything, tells us that “such gritty paths are common” (44). As I mentioned before, liberal arts degree holders are required to persevere in competitive industries because a specialized path doesn’t always exist.
Ann Horner throughout her life has loved reading. Her passion began with Nancy Drew books which she read voraciously. This love was aided by her bibliophile father who lended her copies of classic literature, such as Gulliver’s Travels and Call of the Wild. Horner felt reading was a logical hobby in the same way breathing was a logical` hobby… “it just made sense”.
Horner’s love of reading led her to what she describes as a ‘no doubter’ decision to major in English. Similarly to the current cultural feelings around higher education, Horner’s contemporaries were all focused on a business major.
Much as Benjamin Schmidt describes in his 2018 article “The Humanities are in Crisis”, “While coverage of individual academic disciplines like musicology, history, or comparative literature often deals with the substance of scholarship, talk of the humanities in general always seems to focus on their imminent extinction.”
Paving her own path, Horner began a foray in English, despite a self-proclaimed weakness in dissecting literature.
Ann Horner began her college career in the teaching tract hoping to inspire the next generation. It was throughout this journey that she soon realized that her passion did not reside in teaching as she once thought. Due to this sudden change in her career path, she was left with very little plan for her upcoming future. Despite working throughout her college career as a Resident Assistant, Secretary, and an assistant at an Art Gallery; Ann Horner was left with very little options upon graduation.
Handwork and a rigorous application process found her working in the admissions program at Coker College. In this role she found herself working more in what she considered ‘marketing’… that is persuading students to come to the college through informal written mediums. This skill would become the crux of her professional career, but more on that later.
After Horner’s time at Coker, she was married which brought her to the beautiful state of Pennsylvania. Ann Horner then became a paralegal writing briefs and wills while working closely with family law. In this occupation she gained a keen sense of interpersonal relationships and how to connect with individuals.
After her divorce, Horner went to Penn State to pursue a masters in higher education. It was after receiving this degree that she began to work at her new Alma Mater in fundraising. In this portion of her career she once again used her excellent people skills to converse with donors on how they would like to allocate their money. Horner further used her English tutelage to write agreements to donors to assure that their agreements were concrete and conducive to a continuing relationship. Horner continued this career path among many different institutions becoming the Director of Development at the University of North Carolina, the Duke University Medical Center, and the Executive Director of Development at NC State’s College of Education.
Upon being asked why she enjoyed this career path Horner said, “I loved not having to use sparkly writing”
Advice from Ann
Ann Horner has had a unique perspective on the viability of an English Degree. Any self-respecting English major would beg for her vast array of advice, but Ann enjoys to keep it simple and straight forward… “Find out what you’re good at and talk to people”. To Ann the true viability of English is not in its writing but in the core approach it provides in analyzing the world and seeing possibilities. As her career started she dreamed of being a teacher only to realize the profession was not for her. This did not dissuade her as she found through trial and error a profession that is both fulfilling and viable for her skill set. Horner persuades English Majors to find their “perfect match” and to not stay stuck in a profession simply because of its comfortability.
“You’ll figure it out if you explore a bit”- Ann Horner
I’ve always been fascinated with stories and a combination of both intrigued and perplexed at what makes a poem or novel tick. So I delved into the English major without knowing exactly what I was getting myself into, but I wasn’t afraid and I knew I’d find my way. My knowledge in this discipline has exponentially increased over the past two years at College of Charleston. Originally I was a Creative Writing concentrator, but it was mainly the film component to my current concentration of Literature, Film, and Cultural Studies that encouraged me to switch. Additionally, I’ve learned that to be a truly great writer, you first need to have a solid understanding of literature and culture. All the areas I’ve studied in the classes I’ve taken have given me vital skills necessary for success in the professional sphere. It’s been the best of both worlds: studying topics that genuinely stimulate my brain and gaining invaluable skills in the process. The ability to think critically, digest a plethora of information and come to a meaningful conclusion (with some pressing questions of course as the process for learning is never ending), adapt to challenges, and solve problems creatively are just a handful of these skills. At the start of this capstone class, required of all Literature, Film, and Cultural Studies concentrators, I’m not afraid to admit that I was extremely skeptical about its relevance to my academic and professional development. I heard from previous students that it was a “self-help course” or “focused entirely too much on resume building.” However, I’ve learned that this class is nothing like that at all. It’s about understanding the viability of an English major not only for ourselves, but also for family and friends, people we may meet in the future that are considering studying English or are skeptical of the major, and future academic and employment endeavors. Before this class, I didn’t completely understand how invaluable my major is.
You Can Do Anything, written by George Anders, goes into the many complexities surrounding why English as a major is dying and why its survival is essential in the real-world. The many skills we learn as English majors, like critical thinking, adaptability, creativity, empathy, and problem-solving, position us as having a far greater advantage in succeeding in the professional sphere in a variety of different fields. The “ability to connect with people from other backgrounds,” “ability to improvise,” or “someone ripe for an unusual new challenge” embodies the skills we’ve learned and are essential to any business as all businesses operate within humanity and “much of what happens in the world defies classic economic models.” The focus on STEM in both higher education and the professional sphere detracts from the most real fact that any business cannot operate effectively without people that have an extensive background in the humanities. The skills learned in STEM majors, like data processing, are surely important but cannot act free from the skills learned in a humanities major.
To further cement this fact, Christian Madsbjerg’s book Sensemaking: The Power of the Humanities in the Age of the Algorithm is particularly helpful. The process of sensemaking, or methodical “practical wisdom grounded in the humanities” involves the five principles of culture–not individuals, thick data–not just thin data, the savannah–not the zoo, creativity–not manufacturing, and the North Star–not the GPS. All these principles involve thinking in terms of the bigger picture, which is done through the skills we learn as English majors. We’ve cultivated an understanding of different cultures, which informs “our notions of what is appropriate and relevant…through social context.” This can be useful in many different ways, like discerning that human behavior works from collectively learned practices. We can understand thick data, the human behavior that “adds depth to life,” which in turn helps us categorize what’s meaningful and the contexts surrounding. This is especially helpful when confronting a complex problem. We can understand the intricacies of human needs by observing people and experiencing different perspectives through empathy. Facing doubt has become comfortable to us, where creativity comes into play to figure out what problem exists and how to remedy it. And most importantly, we’re prepared to face the unexpected without having an obsession to organize the world into “an assembly of facts,” which positions us in a unique perspective for selecting appropriate contexts and understanding appropriate paths for the future. These principles are informed by our skills, which are vital to any professional sphere.
When I think back on my academic career at College of Charleston, there are quite a few notable projects that exhibit these skills. Firstly, a traditional paper I wrote a year ago about Posttraumatic Stress Disorder representations in veterans of film noir films in the mid-twentieth century. The thesis of this film argues that The Blue Dahlia (1946) focuses too heavily on reintegration into the domestic sphere for postwar veterans and therefore detracts from the harsh realities many of these veterans faced. It also argues that the film Act of Violence (1948) exhibits a substantially better representation because it focuses on trauma and its effects, putting reintegration into the domestic and civilian sphere less on the totem pole of importance. There are many reasons why this is the case, including the need to rewrite the script of The Blue Dahlia to avoid the “criminalization of a serviceman” and Classic Hollywood Style influences. The process of researching and writing this paper involved learning much about WWII, Hollywood practices at the time, and a synthesizing of this information.
Another notable project was the final paper I wrote during my first semester at College of Charleston for my Introduction to English Studies class. This paper focuses on the importance of including manga in the literary canon, which is a highly contested topic. While finding evidence to support my argument, I learned further that there are very few scholarly works which defend this position. Therefore, finding evidence for my argument was very difficult. I had to become creative in my approach, finding scholarly sources that focused on the categorization of “low” and “high” art, technological practices for art creation in manga, and the culture embodied in manga. I used sources that didn’t necessarily defend my argument, but provided essential information for me to do so. I learned much about Japanese culture in the process and how manga represents many of the same elements as canonical literary works such as transcendental values, cultural representation, popular appeal to educate youth, and the power of language. This paper enhanced my empathy for different cultures and gave me a new perspective on how to approach challenging endeavors. I’ve transformed this paper into a poster board to present my questions and arguments to the general public at English Day this semester, which not only transformed my framework of thinking to present the material but will also enhance my public speaking skills.
Lastly, a minor character analysis I completed on Mr. Perlman in the film Call Me By Your Name (2017) for one of my film classes honed my skill for attention to detail. It’s comparatively easier to write about a main character in any story, and so therein lies the challenge of this paper. By focusing on a minor character, I learned how to pay closer attention to the details of the story to defend my stance that Mr. Perlman plays the most crucial role in the film. This paper was devoid of secondary sources to defend my stance, which made supporting my argument that much more challenging. By addressing a minor character’s role, I learned that to have a sound argument it’s imperative to be able to hone in on one niche stance to soundly address an issue.
The English values I address in my first blog post of being culturally aware and not being afraid to venture into the unknown hold true to the viability of being an English major. Cultural awareness expands upon one’s empathy and having a sound worldview, which is essential to grappling with the issues in our society and finding the right solutions to them. Additionally, being comfortable with stepping into the unknown is an important skill to have as our world is ever changing and the need for individuals who can navigate such territory increases exponentially.
In the beginning of his book, You Can Do Anything, George Anders tells the story of Josh Sucher, a college graduate who had no idea how to find a job. The chapter is titled, “Explorers,” it follows Josh Sucher, and highlights the values and intricacies of a liberal arts degree. Like most students with a liberal arts degree, Josh Sucher creates his own path, winding and networking from one field to another. From the outside, it may seem like a liberal arts major wanders mindlessly from job to job, testing out one field and then moving onto the next. But in reality, the unrestricted journey of shape-shifting in professional environments is inherently part of the career for those that hold a liberal arts degree, especially English.
Many English majors define themselves as curious people. In many ways, curiosity is the driving force that propels the English major forward. What unites the liberal arts degree holders is the avant-garde spirit that yearns to learn, experience, and know more. George Anders begs you to “come at your career with a pioneering spirit, and gain the confidence of steadily building up your strengths.” We can all learn from his story about Josh and let curiosity continue to “tug [us] in unpredictable ways.”
Just as Anders portrays, an English graduate from The College of Charleston, Jared Shapiro, encounters an almost identical experience. When he frist started at College of Charleston, he encountered a sort of identity crisis because he didn’t know what direction his life was headed. He was advised by his older brother to “go the practical route” and study math and business. For three weeks of his sophomore year, Shapiro was a business major and switched out right before the window closed because he just didn’t like it. He knew that he always had a love for English so with the help of awesome professors like Mike Duvall, he was able to seize opportunities through the English department.
With the driving forces of curiosity and a desire to experience more, after graduating from CofC, Shapiro applied to join the Peace Corps. He was determined to utilize both of his majors, English and French. When he was accepted into the Peace Corps, he was sent over to Togo, a Francophone West African nation neighboring Ghana. There, Shapiro taught English to French-speaking students. He enjoyed the incredible experience but knew it woud not last forever.
When Shapiro came back to the United States after one year of working in Togo, he moved to Washington DC. Here, he was an Account Executive at Qorvis, a global advisory firm with based in Middle Eastern countries. The company “navigates the headwinds of a rapidly changing stakeholder economy and anticipates what’s next in the increasingly volatile geopolitical landscape.”
After Shapiro joined the Peace Corps, his goals were “very short term.” He says that his plan was to “make as much money for as little stress as possible.” This was absolutely not the case for him, unfortunately. As you can probably tell from the Qorvis’ company description, it is certainly a high-stakes professional environment. Shapiro described it as a “pressure cooker.” Quickly, he saw the repercussions of working in high pressure organization doing crisis and global issues work. Although this work was highly demanding of him, he says the “benefits of the pressure cooker sometimes outweigh the stress.”
Shapiro stayed at Qorvis for two years and three months, working his way up to Account Supervisor. He engaged with federal agencies, congress, and the media. Shapiro says he never saw himself as someone who would work in communications or public relations, but
“my English major was super useful. My ability to synthesize complicated arguments into something that was understandable came naturally after all of the things we did in English.”
After Qorvis, Shapiro moves to a large pharmaceutical company called Syneos. Interestingly he was recruited through LinkedIn. Shapiro stresses the value of networking through LinkedIn– he was actually recruited by Syneos and quickly got the job there. Here, he starts as an Account Supervisor doing writing and research. After about a year of working there, he took a promotion to an Account Director doing management and overseeing the communications for the company. Shapiro discusses how significant role changes in your career is not something you necessarily learn as an English major, or in college, for that matter.
But, after speaking with him, I am inclined to believe that adaptability and versatility are the defining skills of an English major.
After conversing with him, my biggest takeaway was how he stressed that you learn from the companies you work for, as you go.
Like Josh Sucher from George Ander’s You Can Do Anything, Jared Shapiro is the ultimate explorer. He has the skillset and abilities to shape-shift and adapt based on the professional environment he is in. Interestingly, he never thought he would end up working in a corporate environment. In many ways he still sees himself as a grungy, gritty, college kid who is still creating his professional career path.
In Richard N. Bolles’s book, What Color is Your Parachute? he creates a guidebook to better understand oneself, your preferences when it comes to your career, and what you have to offer in the workforce. Overall, this book is extremely helpful for those who don’t know what they wish to do in their professional lives, those who want to hone in on their ideal career paths, and those who are looking for different avenues they might be interested in taking. This book presents various steps and exercises designed to guide you toward valuable insights about yourself and your aspirations, helping you contemplate the life you envision.
This “Flower Exercise” is meant to get you to better understand yourself, your preferences, and your purpose regarding the work environment. By following each petal, you learn more about what you wish to gain from your career experience and what you believe you can offer.
At the beginning of completing this task myself, I was completely overwhelmed by the idea of the flower, but as I began with the first petal, the details I learned about myself proved worth the effort and contemplation.
When I began to write out the types of people I have worked with in the past, I found a pretty even split between working with coworkers who made my work life enjoyable and those who made it less so. I found myself writing things like “I don’t want to work with someone who is emotionally manipulative” and laughing at myself for even staying in a job like that, even for a short time. It made me realize that when it comes to coworker preferences, maybe my bar was a little too low. At the very least, I don’t want to work with someone who is actively mean to me, but that should be obvious…shouldn’t it?
In recollection of this, I began to think about what I wanted from my work relationships and what types of people I cared about being around. Although it wasn’t necessarily at the very top of my list, I found myself really wanting to be around people who inspire me. I want to work with people who have a strong, passionate curiosity about the world, much like myself. I want to work with someone who is interesting to talk to and teaches me new things all the time. I was surprised by my gravitation toward dynamic agency and shared intellect. In this, I found that wishing for my coworkers to be kind is a given to me, and beyond that, I want more.
June 18, 2023, 3:34 pm in Somis, CA
The second petal deals with your preferred working conditions. This petal was one of the least daunting of the group, mainly because I have always known I do not want to work in a cubicle. I have never seen myself in an office building or at a desk on the eleventh floor with little to no natural light.
To no surprise at all, I want to work somewhere that has natural light that feels open and inviting. A place that has dynamic energy instead of stagnation.
I then moved on to the next petal, “transferable skills.” Completing this petal and doing the exercises within it took me a while. Not because I didn’t feel like I had important skills to offer but because I had difficulty figuring out which ones I felt were the most important. Even now, I feel like there are some listed on there that might not be in the right order, or perhaps I feel like my order of preference will change. More so, I found that doing these exercises helped me better understand what skills of mine I find are really important. It made me wonder what other people would say about me. What would my skills be if I asked my closest friends, family, and professors what they felt stood out to them? It made me wonder what would change, what would remain on the list, and what might be added that I did not know about myself.
The fourth petal, “knowledges,” seemed to surprise me more than I anticipated. Having a family so deeply woven into the entertainment industry, I have found myself steering away from that avenue to give myself a sense of independence. And yet, this exercise made me realize how much I care about media. As someone who is extremely opinionated, I found myself writing about movies and television shows that I either loved or hated, and I find myself increasingly passionate about discussing them. If I were on a desert island, I would 100% talk about my favorite films and TV shows for days on end. For the most part, I think I just write it off as stupid leisure activities, but this exercise made me realize how deeply I care about the media I intake and that I am extremely opinionated and passionate about them. News to me (clearly, I am blind).
Oof. Petal five is all about money. This is where I felt that I learned the most. Growing up, my family never really talked about money, and to this day, they have been pretty hands-off in teaching me anything that has to do with the matter. I would say that my relationship with money is confusing, and I don’t understand many aspects of it at all. Learning about it and how to properly take care of myself as an individual has been something I am slowly learning on my own. And I am everything but good at it. But working through this petal and the exercises that went along with it, I feel closer to understanding that relationship and how I want it to look in the future.
June 18, 2023, 3:30 pm in Somis, CA
When it came to petal six, “places to live,” I found myself more attached to aspects of places versus actual places. Yes, I dream of living in Edinburgh, Syndey, and Osaka at some point in my life, but wherever I am called to, I will go. What I mean by this is that I want to follow opportunities, and I want to follow whatever in my life brings me joy. When it comes to physical places, I want to be somewhere that has lots of activities, great food, places to adventure to, interesting people, seasonal weather, and a place that celebrates holidays.
In making this list, I found what really matters to me is, in fact, the little things. I care about having fun things to do, trying new foods, meeting different people, and being in a place that loves Halloween as much as I do. Wherever I can find the little things that bring me joy is where I want to go.
Finally, on to the seventh petal, “purpose.” Although the idea of this petal is extremely overwhelming and, clearly, a very large and daunting question, I found this petal to be the easiest of them all. If there is anything I know about myself, it is my purpose. I might not know every aspect of my purpose in life, but I, at the very least, deeply believe that I know some.
As written in my flower: My goal, purpose, or mission in life is to…
“increase love, compassion, and beauty (in the form and legacy of art) in the world by deeply affecting individuals and evoking emotion and contemplation through my presence, words, and art. I wish to help individuals learn how to love themselves, each other, and the world around us.”
In John Milton’s Paradise Lost, he describes the world before the fall through monistic theory, arguing that God and all his creations are one and the same. This notion can be found in a particularly peculiar scene where Adam has the angel Raphael over for lunch. In this, we better understand Adam’s character, what he believes his place in the world is, and the reality of his place. In two instances, Adam mentions to Raphael that his “lowly” home and “food not of angels” must not compare to what they eat in Heaven, continually undermining and belittling his offerings and experience compared to the angels. To which Raphael replies with a beautifully encrypted metaphor:
Paradise Lost Book V, lines 469-490
In this excerpt, Raphael uses the example of a flower to help Adam better understand his relationship with God. He explains that everything God has created is a part of him, just with “various degrees” of his spirit. He goes even further to say that those who are “nearer to him placed” or “nearer tending” are those who are more spiritous and, therefore, more pure. This insinuates that Adam has the ability to “tend nearer” to God. Although Adam is more body than spirit compared to God and his angels, the more Adam connects to his spirit, the closer he will be to God and, ultimately, the purer he will become.
This notion is extremely similar to an important concept that drives my life and is something I have been taught throughout it: spiritual alignment.
Similarly, the deep inspiration derived from Milton’s works and following the inward contemplation of alignment is what got Abigail Harmon, an English major alum from the College of Charleston, to where she is today.
After graduating from CofC in 2011, Abigail went straight to graduate school at Regent College in Vancouver, where she studied Theology. Her father, being a theologian himself, is one of the things that propelled her to choose this path. After graduating, she took some time away from school to really figure out how she wanted to use her degrees in her professional life.
It was during this time that Abigail really began to ask important questions about herself. What was she drawn to? What was she inspired by? In what moments did she feel most like herself? In this recollection, she realized she wanted to return to school to get her counseling degree and study therapy. It seemed to her that the common theme strung throughout her passions, her time being an English major at CofC, her graduate studies in theology, and her new mission of becoming a therapist had one important piece connecting them all: a deep love and appreciation for humanity.
Abigail realized she was drawn to understanding how people organized themselves and behaved societally throughout history and found that she cared deeply for people’s individual stories and backgrounds. In making the decision on where to go next, she states she paid close attention to “the moments in [her] life when she felt most like Abigail, the moments that made [her] feel completely centered.” In this reflection of herself and what purpose seemed to align with her the most, she asked:
“When do I feel like I have ten toes on the floor? In what moments do I feel completely in my body? When I’m present and when I feel alive…and it was when I was listening to someone.”
It was then that her next step felt clear. During the 2020 pandemic, Abigail got another master’s degree in mental health counseling at Walden University. Now, with her English degree and her master’s in theology and counseling, she currently has a private and group counseling practice and also does ghostwriting on the side. In her private practice, she focuses on helping people who have religious trauma, climate anxiety/depression, and those in the LGBTQ community. As a deep thinker and feeler herself, through her practice, she creates a safe and understanding space for those who feel easily misunderstood by the grandness of their emotions. As a therapist, she is dedicated to helping people be their “open, easy, wise, quirky, kiss-ass” selves, that is their natural state of being.
When asked if she had any regrets throughout her professional career, she took a second to wonder. After a couple moments of silence, she was surprised by her own answer: No. Everything she did, everything she learned, and everything she experienced genuinely helped her not only become the person she is but also the professional person she is today. She explains:
“My robust background in theological studies allowed me to adapt to any theological belief system that walks in the room. I can adapt and understand all the nuances of their different belief systems, specifically within Christianity but also just in world religions in general. And I just can’t overstate how well literature has prepared me for being a therapist. I’m so, so much more able to not only have the vocabulary to help people, but a lot of times, people just need the right language and being able to supply that for somebody who’s searching for the right word or can’t identify how they feel, I mean, it is like a weight comes off their shoulders. So simplifying language, having the vocabulary to articulate feelings, and being a keen listener. That’s what you’re doing when you’re reading and writing. You’re paying attention.”
In a passage from Ramsey and Grobman’s Major Decisions: College, Career, and the Case for the Humanities,” in their chapter called “Beyond Jobs and Careers: The Enduring Value of the Humanities,” the authors dive into the significance of an English degree in contributing to the collective welfare. They explain that pursuits in intellectual, artistic, and moral avenues possess a unique inherent value. These endeavors not only enhance people’s personal lives but enrich the lives of those around you, as seen through Abigail’s story and private practice.
When Abigail reflected back on her time at CofC, there was one class in particular that changed the trajectory of her life: ENGL 306 John Milton.
Yes, studying Milton’s works and writings was a deeply inspiring feat, but what made this class truly special was its professor, William Russell. Not only did he teach this class with such poised enthusiasm, but the way he listened to his students left lasting effects on Abigail.
The deep care and attention to detail Professor Russell has with everything he does distills a sense of belonging and inherent support for his students. For Abigail, being in his class helped her trust that she did, in fact, have a lot to contribute. This class taught her that she had important opinions and things to say and that they were worth sharing with the world. As she learned more from Professor Russell, she began to understand herself better and pay attention to the moments when she felt most aligned within herself.
“He really saw me as a student, not just as a student, but just for who I am.”
Professor Russell’s centered presence in the room, his bright enthusiasm, his heartfelt understanding, and his open-minded attention to each student were a source of inspiration for Abigail. She, too, wanted to hold this space for people.
“I remember wanting to be more like him, so here I am.”
Intimidation doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt looking at Robert Boyles’s ‘Flower Exercise’ from his book “What Color is Your Parachute?” Besides intimidation, I began with a positive attitude; I wanted this exercise to achieve something. I wanted to be able to unfold myself and benefit from this experience, but it was hard to have to sit there and think about yourself and eventually describe who you are.
A large portion of my alumni profile interview was very helpful and personal to me specifically because I felt like Mary Alice Miller understood the fear of graduating as well. We talked a lot about the plethora of options there are once school is over, and how overwhelming it can be. I’m afraid of missing out or choosing wrong (what could be wrong? Who is judging? Only me, really.) I care about so many different things and concepts. I want to try so much, but it’s hard to narrow down what I’m exactly looking for.
Beginning this exercise, there were a few petals that were easier for me to do such as ‘Geography,’ ‘People’ or who I would like to work with, and ‘Work Conditions.’ I’ve always known that I would thrive in a city; I enjoy the buzz of life. Since I’ve lived in South Carolina my whole life, I’m ok with the idea of moving and expanding my horizons for a job. Petals 3 and 4 were a little tougher for me to do because I felt as if my transferable skills were very limited. Even though we’ve worked throughout this Capstone to give alternative names to the skills that we’ve acquired as English Majors–specifically looking at “You Can Do Anything” by George Anders–however, I still feel like mine are all very academic based and limited.
Either my skills or my experience, I felt, is all limited to the academic field, but what else is there? I have been in school for the past 16 years, so it makes sense that a lot of my projects and activities are centered around school. Or my skills felt random or out of place. I spent three summers in high school as a summer camp counselor at Camp Gravatt in Aiken, SC. Parts of me feel like this time was silly, but realistically I learned so many leadership, organizational, and teamwork skills.
My campers and me, circa 2018
Part of Boyle’s methods for the job search and finding a career for ones’ self is practicing kindness toward yourself. “…feeling helpless is a state of mind that you can change. It starts by recognizing that if anyone has the power to make changes in your life, it is you” (27). Realistically, I have just started my career journey and I am not the perfect candidate right now. I cannot expect myself to be. Reading this book was a reminder that I have to be gentler with myself.
I expected to not have a good time doing petal 7 “Purpose in Life,” but I was pleasantly surprised by this part of the exercise. A large portion of the petal felt very grounding. It was like a reminder of who I am and what I believe in. It was nice to be reminded of the values that I appreciate and look for in life, even if I have a hard time incorporating them into my career. The questions and values Boyles brought up were extremely helpful in centering me and what I want out of life.
Similar to petal 3, petal 4 “Knowledges” made me feel silly, despite it being something I could easily fill out. At times I felt like the things that I know about such as Pop Culture and TV and movies aren’t necessarily transferable skills, but they’re what I love.
I, 2023, work with kids, even though I don’t plan on pursuing a career involving kids.
We talked a lot in my literary publishing class about how working in the book industry is about apprenticing and learning while on the job. Publishing, editing, and writing are some of the last jobs where apprenticeship is extremely important and it’s one of the best ways to learn. A lot of my early career might be waiting and learning. Doing this exercise has shown me I need to have faith in what I know and all my experiences have given me useful skills. This next chapter of my life will be a practice in patience, but I’ll be rewarded with knowledge.
