By Daniella Zoller
The study of literature is now, more than ever, crucial to the next generation, so – what does it mean to be an English Major?
On Tuesday, November 4, nearly 50 people gathered in the English House to find the answer to this question while celebrating the department’s annual “Chowder Fest” event. This occasion brings students, faculty, and staff together for the common interest of hearing what past English and Creative Writing majors are doing with their degrees now and the paths they took to get there.
Audience members began strolling in around 5:30pm, helping themselves to the various soup options that were served in the department library. The traditional clam chowder, beef noodle soup, and hearty vegetarian soup were all present, along with a new vegan pumpkin bisque option. People sat all around the house – on the new couch in the lounge, on the stairs, and with some attendees standing and chatting in the doorways.
Professor Kasmer, our current department chair, began the evening by addressing the faculty who were present. Professors Blake, Lemos, Berg, and Levin each introduced themselves to the audience. Kasmer then transitioned into the speaker introductions. Present were Melisa Alves, Associate Dean for Student Success and the Executive Director for Career Readiness; Robin Bozik, Budget Coordinator; Azariah Kurlantzick, First Year Success Advisor; Ashley Cataldo, Curator of Manuscripts at American Antiquarian Society; Manal Ahmed (via Zoom), Reporter; Brett Iarrobino, Teacher; and Kira Houston (via Zoom), Outreach Coordinator.
What does it mean to be an English or Creative Writing Major?
The speakers each shared what they think the English education is all about. Thinking critically, learning how to deeply analyze both people and text, leaning into your community, embracing mistakes and change, and becoming a lifelong learner are all things that were addressed as benefits to being a part of the English Department at Clark University.
The biggest thing that Robin Bozik, BA ‘24, will take away from the English major is that accidents are a part of life. Their accidental English major brought them to where they are today, and they have begun to embrace accidents rather than shy away from them. Working in accounting currently, Bozik has decided to embrace the “hap” in happening. They stated that the beauty of the English degree is that it can take them anywhere, as their education has set them up to be a lifelong learner. They believe that their English background will continue to open many career opportunities for them, as they are equipped with critical thinking and analytical skills that can be applied virtually anywhere.
Azariah Kurlantzick, BA ‘20, agreed with Bozik regarding the critical thinking skills that come along with the English education experience. In their current position, they are always “analyzing what their students are saying versus what their students are thinking versus what their students might be saying that their parents are making them say.” The English major has taught them fundamental people skills. Being able to hear or read something and knowing that there is more below the surface is essential to their work and any work that they may be doing in the future.
Writing the English Honor’s thesis was also a huge step in Kurlantzick’s undergraduate career. Kurlantzick shared that as a first-year student, they did not think they would be smart, cool, or interesting enough to produce serious and/or interesting work. After taking a plethora of English classes, Kurlantzick got to thinking about the Gothic and in their thesis, they ended up defining a new type of literature – the Yiddish Gothic. They completed their thesis during the pandemic, and the process built their confidence within their knowledge and showed them that they are not only capable, but also smart, cool, and interesting enough after all. They discovered that they could learn and know things and provide answers.
The main thing that they got out of the English major is being able to trust yourself to do reasonable thinking and coming up with good answers. They learned that they can contribute to the world and that they have the ability to think critically. Kurlantzick emphasized that all the reading and writing that we do as English or Creative Writing majors/minors pays off. The confidence building and the ability to be sure of yourself is what enables you to set out to achieve your goals – and sometimes they may be goals that you didn’t even know you had.
Kurlantzick added that one of their favorite things about the English major is that you can look at the same exact piece of text every day and still find something new about it each time. “You’ll never come up with a new answer to 2+2,” they said, but with the English major, knowledge continues to build and expand over time, even regarding the same topic that you’ve already studied.
Ashley Cataldo, MA ‘06, stressed that the biggest thing you learn while studying English at Clark is being flexible. You learn how to navigate the world with an ultimate goal in mind, and studying English helps you pinpoint what you want while also allowing you to explore other options while on the road to your final destination. She mentioned that while at Clark, students should recognize that faculty members want you to succeed. She encourages students to lean on their community and rely on their professors to help get them to where they want to be, just as she did with Professors Neuman and Kasmer.
Getting Involved and Finding a Career
Kurlantzick now works at Clark University in the First Year Success Office. They are one of four First Year Success Advisors (FYSA). In their role, they provide holistic support to first-year and pre-major sophomore students who are exploring new avenues as college students while also navigating the challenges that come with being newly independent adults. They also advocate for accessibility for their students, serving as an incredibly helpful resource.
When Kurlantzick first came to Clark, they wanted to be an Education major, putting them on the path to becoming a teacher. They soon discovered that they enjoy one-on-one conversations over addressing a big room full of people. Kurlantzick’s career path after graduation allowed them to explore what aspects they did or did not want in a job. Their first job was in the publishing field. They did a lot of administrative work, such as learning how to read a mood and writing a good email. They enjoyed publishing, but they soon began to miss working with students, leading them back to Clark.
Cataldo shared that Clark brought her to her job through the English major. She told the audience that the American Antiquarian Society is a place that English and Creative Writing majors should visit during their time at Clark. Her first visit to the AAS was a part of one of the classes she took at Clark with Professor Neuman. When she is feeling lost or uninspired, she thinks about the first class that she took at the AAS. With Neuman’s class, she was introduced to the world of print culture at the Society. Cataldo shared that physically touching rare books gives you a new perspective on what the past means, and what the present signifies.
As she was looking at texts in the AAS, she knew that she needed to work with these materials, and she knew she wanted to work there. She didn’t know how to get to these manuscripts, and she didn’t know how to make the jump from being a student to working at the AAS, but she knew she wanted to try. She went to the AAS and asked if they needed any volunteers or any help at the Society, and to her surprise, they said yes! She began doing newspaper inventory. After that, she was given a job in the reference department, and she continued moving up from there. At the time, she felt as though it were “magic” or luck that landed her these jobs. But now, she knows that it was a lot of hard work and dedication that got her to where she is today.
Manal Ahmed, BA ‘21, is a writer and reporter based in Pakistan, currently working in the education non-profit sector. Ahmed shared that as an international student, she was always looking for tangible things to do after completing her education. She first began working at MassPoetry located in Seaport, Massachusetts. They do a lot of literary and fundraising events, and they also have regular poetry readings and writing workshops. Getting involved in this organization cemented her love for her poetry and literature. She felt as though she wouldn’t have as much passion without the nurturing and support that she got at Clark University. With MassPoetry, she was completing a fellowship that was focused on fundraising and grant writing. She said that this job was great for networking, and she would recommend it to other students.
After her time with MassPoetry, Ahmed moved on to work with the Brink Literacy project. It was a publishing internship program where she worked remotely for 3 months. Brink’s goal is to bring underrepresented voices into the publishing world. Ahmed got to interview authors, poets, and more, working with many different types of people and learning the ins and outs of the publishing world.
Her key piece of advice is to submit to all the writing contests that the department has to offer. She says this is a great way to get your work read by people, helping you build confidence that your work is valuable, good, and worth being read. Ahmed urges students to apply for the funding for internships that Melisa Alves introduced at the beginning of Chowder Fest. Her work with the United Nations in New York was one instance where she used the ClarkConnect award. It was an unpaid position that she ultimately got paid for through Clark’s funding, and it brought her an amazing experience. She states that being involved in these things is what really supplements the education that the English Department provides. These different types of activities and experiences help make the most of your degree and expand upon the learning that you’re doing in the classroom.
Brett Iarrobino, BA ‘21 & MA ‘22, currently works as a middle school teacher at Burncoat Middle School teaching English Language Arts. They are the cofounder and facilitator of the Worcester Collective. They were also honored in Pulse Magazine as “One of Worcester’s People to Watch 2024.”
In preparation for their talk, they thought of a few specific things they would want to know if they were an undergrad student at Clark, specifically regarding leaning into the English major experience. They began by telling the audience to think about the spaces that they love at Clark – and then to savor them, and then to try to recreate them. This is what they did within the Worcester Writers Collective. They missed the environment of collaborative Creative Writing classes, so they tried to emulate that energy within the Writers Collective space.
Their next piece of advice was to do “Do Englishy Things!” Iarrobino says that the things and extracurriculars that you do outside of class for fun or for sport should be things that you are doing for yourself or other people.
As an example, Iarrobino shared that during the pandemic, they applied to be on a board for Sigma Tau Delta. They felt very insecure about doing something outside of the classroom, but it ended up being “the coolest thing ever.” They were flown to conferences outside of the country, getting the opportunity to sit in on different award panels and handing out writing awards. Before this experience, they didn’t know what it was like to feel a passion for English outside of class or outside of homework, but they were excited to find something that brought them joy and fun outside of the classroom that was related to English.
Their third piece of advice is to trust that your instructors want what is best for you, and you will be fine! They offered up a story to the first-year students in the room or to anyone who could relate. Iarrobino started the story by stating that the people in the English department and the instructors are some of the most supportive people that you will ever meet. They had been in an Intro to Shakespeare class with Professor Diane Berg, and they submitted a paper that they rushed through. About a week later, Berg reached out to Iarrobino asking to meet about the paper. She had not given them a grade yet, and they were super anxious to meet with her. That meeting was the first time they had come to the English House. Iarrobino wrote a below-average paper, but Berg trusted them and was confident in their capabilities, and she gave them the opportunity to do a rewrite. This was the first time they had experienced something so powerful and meaningful from an instructor at Clark University. Iarrobino’s love for English grew through other people who also loved English, such as their professors.
Kira Houston, BA ‘23, works at Black Mountain College Museum based out of North Carolina. During his time at Clark, he was an Art History and Spanish double major with a minor in Creative Writing. He has worked in both small and mid-sized museums in locations all over the United States.
He landed his role as the Outreach Coordinator at Black Mountain College (BMC) during his time at Clark. He received the ClarkConnect internship funds to work as an intern for BMC at first, and then the museum offered Houston a full-time position. He worked remotely for them as he finished up his bachelor’s degree and then moved to Asheville after graduation. Houston’s art history Honor’s thesis was written about an artist who went to Black Mountain College, so his interest in this workplace showed in more ways than one.
In his role, he wears many hats. His job combines community outreach, marketing, education, digital media production, and more. He uses the same skills that he acquired at Clark to help fill his shoes as the outreach coordinator. Houston incorporates storytelling through the marketing/communications portion of his role – writing social media posts and copywriting for event pages. As for critical theory, this is a skill that he uses for navigating the contemporary art world – understanding important critical lenses about the history of the art, such as queer theory and anti-colonial theory. The archival portion of his job is pretty apparent, as he handles archival documents and navigates archival databases regularly
Career Connections at Clark
Melisa Alves, the Associate Dean for Student Success and the Executive Director for Career Readiness, spoke to the students about career services here at Clark University. She introduced one-on-one career advising services to the group. She explained that while you may have the same major or same interests as someone else, “your career path and what you want to do and how you are going to get there will look different for each and every person.” She explained that mapping out your journey, seeing what you want to do, and how to take advantage of these things will contribute to your journey at Clark. With there being a lot of first years in the room, Alves mentioned that it is important to start building your network before you need it. Starting up your LinkedIn account now rather than later is always a positive because having a network before you start searching for jobs or internships will highly benefit you in the future.
Next, she began speaking about the opportunity funding that is available to students through the Career Connections Center. Alves explained that if you were to get an unpaid internship, you can apply for opportunity funding and get funds through their office. They are also able to help assist in getting academic credit for internships.
Alves introduced the “Strong Interest Inventory” tool, which is a career assessment tool that focuses on the students’ interests and how they can turn those interests into careers. If you are interested in a major, but unsure what to do with that major, you can use this tool to help find some inspiration. Its main function is to help students discover career opportunities that they may enjoy.
She then explained the Career Communities that are offered through their office. These are industry-based groups that connect you to tools and resources, as well as alumni and employers who are a part of those Career Communities. If you’re feeling lost, you can go and join a career community that piques your interest to discover more of what you want to do and how it can be achieved.
Alves also mentioned another resource for students, Career Connections Cash. If you find a conference or competition that has a fee, and it’s related to what you may want to do in the future, students may tap into this resource once a year to be reimbursed for any fees that students may have paid.
Alves invites students to schedule appointments with her and start working on their resumes now. She can also help get you connected with alumni! Don’t hesitate to reach out to her via email, MeAlves@clarku.edu and schedule a meeting.
Q&A Portion
In terms of the transitional phase from coming up to graduation (or from being freshly graduated) and looking for jobs, how did you balance that fuzzy liminal space? How did you negotiate that? Do you have any tips and tricks for the seniors in the room?
Bozik offered up their advice first. They began coping with this time period by going back to their regular summer job – Girl Scout Camp. To help with this transition, Bozik practiced saying, “I have an English degree,” rather than saying “I am an English major.” They said that this seemingly small change helped them begin to cope and feel more like an adult. They began to wonder if everyone felt so lost and if everyone who is freshly graduated feels as though they lost a piece of their identity. But Bozik has since learned that you do not lose a piece of your identity, it just begins to shape into something new. You stay a lifelong learner, and there are things that you can do to nurture that pre-graduation identity. For them, they started writing zines regarding their thesis topic, and they found that it helped.
Houston’s advice was to start working sooner rather than later, even if it seems hard. If you’re sure that you want to get a job right after graduation, don’t be shy to start looking at job listings and asking about start dates, etc. A lot of things in the scope of liberal arts work are much more flexible than your typical corporate job. Set a goal and go for it!
Kurlantzick offered up some advice about their own unique experience. Their job hunt was during the COVID-19 pandemic, so they were able to endure a very long job search. They made themselves a schedule where they would aim to apply for 10 jobs a week. They also added in things that they enjoyed to this schedule to avoid spiraling into a bed-rotting habit. They also worked on passion projects throughout this time to keep them busy and to continue exercising their mind and creative abilities. They scored their first job 6 months after they graduated.
Alves, from the Career Connections Center, told the audience that students have full access to their office for a full year after graduating. You still have access to all the programming, etc.!
All of the speakers seem to have a specific avenue that they dove into – how did they manage to create these avenues and reach these niche jobs?
Houston was the first to offer up his advice. He said that Professor Elizabeth Blake’s class, Queer Modernisms, was the first to pique his interest. He stated that he became enraptured with this field of study, and seeing the way that trends in literature and art history are carried on throughout today inspired him. He never would’ve predicted that he would be working in the world of modern art, but something about Blake’s class really inspired him.
Bozik offered up the advice of finding one book or one text that you can really sink your teeth into. With the help of Professor Lisa Kasmer, they found their niche in the queer Gothic this way, and they began researching and writing papers that would later contribute to their thesis, and it is something that they still feel passionately about.
Cataldo shared that during her time at Clark, she was really into 18th century British poetry. In 2008, when she first started volunteering at the AAS, the economy was in a bad place. She never anticipated that she would become a curator – it didn’t seem possible at the time. Cataldo shared that even now, years later, she still doesn’t know what she’s doing or how she got to where she is today. She said that walking back into the English House for Chowder Fest made her feel like she was still a student writing her thesis. Her advice is that if you have a passion for anything, feel that and lean into it, and see where it leads you! She is still waiting to see where her passion will ultimately lead her.
For Iarrobino, they always knew that they wanted to be a teacher. Subconsciously, he found himself looking at a lot of readers, scholars, their pieces, etc., and observing how decisions of other people led them to where they are today, and how certain decisions shaped their lives. They offered up Professor Justin Shaw for example, sharing that Shaw is a sort of role model for him. Iarrobino likes to step back and think of what he is doing now, and if these things are going to contribute to what they want to do in the long term. Doing this helps him determine what he wants to spend his time doing, and if he should be doing other things instead.
When choosing a major or direction based off of interests and/or excitement with no end goal, how can this translate into next steps? What is the end goal when it’s no longer in a college context, and no longer just a class?
From the standpoint of not only a previous student, but also an advisor, Kurlantzick offered up some advice. They shared that students either have an end goal, or they are looking for one. They state that there can be a lot of joy in the exploration of “what do I like about this class?” and figuring out what you want to do want to do next can include finding that joy. Kurlantzick has always been passionate about English, but they didn’t quite have an end goal in mind or a track for their major. They thought about what they found appealing and then looked for it all around. They shared, “I don’t know my destination, but I know the next thing that sounds fun.” Look for things that link these fun things together and try to pursue those. Their example regarding this advice is when they worked at America’s Test Kitchen as an intern who read recipes. They combined their love for cooking/baking and their passion for English to find a job that seemed fun and appealing.