My brain isn't working, so I'll answer these questions!
Intellectual influences: Who were your favorite professors (and why)? Identify the best paper you ever wrote, the most influential book you have read, and the single most important concept you have learned.
My favorite professor is one I've never actually had. Rich Russell, a professor at Atlantic Cape Community College was in charge of Rewrites, the literary magazine I worked on during my time there. I was always very quiet around professors and never made much of a personal connection until working with Rich, and he's a large part about why I try to be friendly and relate to all of my professors--you all are pretty cool. In relation to professors at Rowan: Professor Tweedie was the first writing arts professor I had, and he made me feel welcome in the program. I had been two years out of school of this point, and very unsure of my major (which was journalism at the time), and his section of Introduction to Writing Arts really cemented wanting to switch majors for me. Also, at the end of the semester, he recommended me for my current job, blogging for Rowan!
The best paper I ever wrote was a paper on slang usage in the online community, Tumblr. I did all the primary research myself (as we were told), and worked my ass off on it! I'm still incredibly proud of it, and wouldn't mind editing/working on it more, because I find it an interesting subject.
The most influential book I ever read was when I was in middle school. I know it would be super cool of me to say something smart or literary, but honestly I wouldn't be who I am today--as a person, much less a writer--if not for the author Tamora Pierce, and her series Song of the Lioness. At the time of reading it, I was just getting access to the internet, and spent a lot of time on her forum where she was a big supporter of feminism, reading, writing, and education. Beyond that, she gave me a series of protagonists I could look up to as a young girl, and characters to aspire towards. I still reread all her books once a year, and they are the few things that have traveled with me through all moves.
As for the most important concept I've learned: I'm alive. It could be worse.
Encouragement: Recall and write out the actual words of a professor, teacher, or someone else in your life who encouraged you to go in this direction.
The direction of writing? Honestly, I don't think it was any one person who said anything that made me decide to go into writing--it's probably been the first career choice I've made that was pure me. I will say, I was completely honored when Professor Carl Hausman told me he thought I was a talented writer, though!
Turning points: Where were you and what were you doing when you first thought of going in this particular direction? How have your interests evolved?
This is easy: I was in the hospital, November 2010--almost three years ago. Until that point I was working as a web designer/teacher's aid/costumer, and unhappy with almost all of it. Writing was something I started doing in earnest during the impossibly long days at the hospital when I realized all the books they had in the hospital library were Harlequin romance. Originally, I kept it as a hobby, but then the job I took after the hospital (which shall remain nameless) got rough, and going back to college seemed like a real option again. It took a long time for me to really settle with the idea of writing, though--I had gone the arts route before in my graphic design, and it made me miserable, so I originally considered business and/or environmental studies. Eventually I settled on journalism, which was "writing but practical" in my mind, even though I knew journalism wasn't for me. I did finally figure out that writing arts wasn't all creative writing, and switched over, though!
Experiences: List volunteer, travel, family, and life experiences that have inspired you to go in this career direction.
See above; it's sort of a mish-mash of that.
Academics: How have you prepared yourself to succeed?
I currently have completed one internship, worked on a college literary magazine (not Avant), and have a 3.88 GPA, currently. My GPA at ACCC was the same.
What skills have you honed through the experiential and educational choices you have made?
Writing, editing, web and graphic design, costuming, publication design, layout design, social media expertise, and possibly other things I can't think of.
Personal attributes: What personal attributes make you particularly likely to succeed?
I'm hard working, and I can work through anything. I've had a fair amount of jobs and experimented with a few careers to know that this is honestly what I want, which is something I don't think a lot of college students can say.
Intellectual influences: Who were your favorite professors (and why)? Identify the best paper you ever wrote, the most influential book you have read, and the single most important concept you have learned.
My favorite professor is one I've never actually had. Rich Russell, a professor at Atlantic Cape Community College was in charge of Rewrites, the literary magazine I worked on during my time there. I was always very quiet around professors and never made much of a personal connection until working with Rich, and he's a large part about why I try to be friendly and relate to all of my professors--you all are pretty cool. In relation to professors at Rowan: Professor Tweedie was the first writing arts professor I had, and he made me feel welcome in the program. I had been two years out of school of this point, and very unsure of my major (which was journalism at the time), and his section of Introduction to Writing Arts really cemented wanting to switch majors for me. Also, at the end of the semester, he recommended me for my current job, blogging for Rowan!
The best paper I ever wrote was a paper on slang usage in the online community, Tumblr. I did all the primary research myself (as we were told), and worked my ass off on it! I'm still incredibly proud of it, and wouldn't mind editing/working on it more, because I find it an interesting subject.
The most influential book I ever read was when I was in middle school. I know it would be super cool of me to say something smart or literary, but honestly I wouldn't be who I am today--as a person, much less a writer--if not for the author Tamora Pierce, and her series Song of the Lioness. At the time of reading it, I was just getting access to the internet, and spent a lot of time on her forum where she was a big supporter of feminism, reading, writing, and education. Beyond that, she gave me a series of protagonists I could look up to as a young girl, and characters to aspire towards. I still reread all her books once a year, and they are the few things that have traveled with me through all moves.
As for the most important concept I've learned: I'm alive. It could be worse.
Encouragement: Recall and write out the actual words of a professor, teacher, or someone else in your life who encouraged you to go in this direction.
The direction of writing? Honestly, I don't think it was any one person who said anything that made me decide to go into writing--it's probably been the first career choice I've made that was pure me. I will say, I was completely honored when Professor Carl Hausman told me he thought I was a talented writer, though!
Turning points: Where were you and what were you doing when you first thought of going in this particular direction? How have your interests evolved?
This is easy: I was in the hospital, November 2010--almost three years ago. Until that point I was working as a web designer/teacher's aid/costumer, and unhappy with almost all of it. Writing was something I started doing in earnest during the impossibly long days at the hospital when I realized all the books they had in the hospital library were Harlequin romance. Originally, I kept it as a hobby, but then the job I took after the hospital (which shall remain nameless) got rough, and going back to college seemed like a real option again. It took a long time for me to really settle with the idea of writing, though--I had gone the arts route before in my graphic design, and it made me miserable, so I originally considered business and/or environmental studies. Eventually I settled on journalism, which was "writing but practical" in my mind, even though I knew journalism wasn't for me. I did finally figure out that writing arts wasn't all creative writing, and switched over, though!
Experiences: List volunteer, travel, family, and life experiences that have inspired you to go in this career direction.
See above; it's sort of a mish-mash of that.
Academics: How have you prepared yourself to succeed?
I currently have completed one internship, worked on a college literary magazine (not Avant), and have a 3.88 GPA, currently. My GPA at ACCC was the same.
What skills have you honed through the experiential and educational choices you have made?
Writing, editing, web and graphic design, costuming, publication design, layout design, social media expertise, and possibly other things I can't think of.
Personal attributes: What personal attributes make you particularly likely to succeed?
I'm hard working, and I can work through anything. I've had a fair amount of jobs and experimented with a few careers to know that this is honestly what I want, which is something I don't think a lot of college students can say.
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