English Major Alumni

Mary Kate Holman, AB ’11

Ph.D. Student, Theology | Fordham University
New York City, NY

What did you do after graduation?
I worked for a year as the administrative assistant for Georgetown’s Classics Department, and then attended Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, where I earned a Master’s of Theological Studies in 2014.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I’m a second-year doctoral student in theology, so I’m in my last year of coursework and I serve as a Teaching Assistant for an undergraduate course each semester. I use the writing and close reading skills from my English degree every day in my research and teaching.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
My all-time favorite English class at Georgetown was Professor Pfordresher’s course on Charles Dickens. Dickens is my absolute favorite author, and Pfordresher was such a kind and devoted professor who clearly enjoyed the material as much as I did. It was fascinating to explore not only the literary merits of Dickens’ novels, but also the social injustices he sought to expose.

Doria Killian, AB ’11

Ph.D. Student, German | Georgetown University
Washington, D.C.

What did you do after graduation?
[I] worked at a preschool for two years, and taught English in Germany on a Fulbright.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I’m now in my second year of a five-year PhD program in the German Department. My English degree has certainly helped me with my ability to analyze literature and other texts, which is a huge part of my current career as a grad student studying German culture and literature.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
Beckett, Borges, and Nabokov. It introduced me to postmodernist literature and narratology and challenged many of my preconceived notions about the world.

Sasha Panaram, AB ’13

Ph.D. Student, English | Duke University
Durham, NC

What did you do after graduation?
After I graduated from Georgetown, I started a doctoral program in English at Duke University.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am a third-year English Ph.D. student at Duke University where I work on twentieth-century black diasporic literature. Pursuing an English degree at Georgetown meant that I was exposed to a wide range of topics within the field of English, and given multiple opportunities to write and think critically. My Georgetown English professors always challenged me to both distill my ideas concisely and think creatively as well as analytically. I am certain that this type of training enabled me to confidently enter a Ph.D. program directly upon graduating from Georgetown.

Liz Abello, AB’ 14

Employer Recruiting Strategist | Northwestern University
Chicago, IL

What did you do after graduation?
After graduation, I worked at Northwestern University’s Alumni Association. As a Program Assistant for their Alumni Engagement team, I connected current students with alumni and helped to host educational and social events for alumni.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am an Employer Recruiting Strategist at Northwestern University; I work with consulting firms and arts and cultural organizations to recruit undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate students. Through my English degree, I learned how to organize and articulate my thoughts in a convincing way. When I work with companies to create recruiting strategies, they appreciate my ability to accurately state their recruiting needs and provide evidence-supported suggestions for how to better connect with Northwestern students.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
My favorite English classes were with Professor Ward Tietz because I was exposed to and learned to appreciate a new genre of art and literature.

Andrew Blake, AB ’13

Recruitment Director | AIC Education
Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

What did you do after graduation?
After I graduated, I moved to China to work as an education consultant for Chinese high school students, mentoring them on writing and career opportunities. Over the last five years, have had the chance to travel to 25+ countries because of the flexibility of my work, and the experiences encouraged me to pursue a degree in international relations.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.

I am about to enroll at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies for a two-year Master’s degree in International Economics and Conflict Management.

Erin Desimone, AB ’15

Upper School English Teacher | Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart
Bethesda, MD

What did you do after graduation?
As an undergraduate at Georgetown, I double majored in English and Art History. After graduation, I went on to earn my MA in English from Georgetown. I was delighted to work with Georgetown’s English Department in this graduate program. During my time in the MA program, I enjoyed fostering friendships with professors and peers. Every graduate-level course, from Professor O’Malley’s Gothic Novel to Professor Wu’s Romanticism, was stimulating. I also had the opportunity to complete an MA thesis. This thesis research, writing, and defense experience was incredibly rewarding. I remember my entire MA experience fondly. This is why I continue to stay connected to the Georgetown English Department; I enjoy attending events such as Professor Pfordresher’s book signing.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I owe much of my success in my current position to my Georgetown English experience. As an undergraduate, I had the opportunity to work with Professor Pavesich in the Georgetown Writing Center. In graduate school, I had the privilege of studying with Professor Collins; in Professor Collins’ Shakespeare course, I was able to teach a class to undergraduates at Georgetown. Moments like these solidified my desire to teach and provided me with valuable experience.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
It is so difficult to choose just one favorite English class; I truly feel grateful for all of my English courses at Georgetown. However, the courses that stand out to me are all of my classes with Professor Boylan and my courses with Professor Shaup. My very first English course at Georgetown was Professor Boylan’s Phantoms Haunting 19th-century British Literature. This course positively shaped my entire English experience at Georgetown. It introduced me to my favorite author, D.H. Lawrence, and I was honored to write my graduate thesis with Professor Boylan as my advisor. Professor Shaup’s Literature of the American West course was fascinating and eye-opening; I was introduced to American authors who I greatly admire and now strive to incorporate into my own American Literature courses. I am so grateful to have had Professor Shaup as the second reader to my thesis.

Joan Greve, AB ’15

Assistante Étrangère de Langue | Teaching Assistant Program, French Embassy
Mâcon, France

What did you do after graduation?
I became an English teaching assistant to primary school children in eastern France.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am an assistante étrangère de langue for the Teaching Assistant Program in France, housed within the French Embassy. My experience as a Writing Center tutor, as well as my Writing Center tutor class, has been very helpful as I explore the different tactics necessary to explain the complexities of the English language to many eager French eight-year-olds.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
I took an amazing course on the life and work of F. Scott Fitzgerald my senior year with Professor Maureen Corrigan. Besides exposing us to more of Fitzgerald’s beautiful writing, the class allowed me to think more deeply about what it means to be American (in all its majesty and mayhem) and how that identity was shaped by writers like Fitzgerald and, indeed, by Fitzgerald himself.

Benjamin Hall, AB ’11

Business Librarian | Gast Business Library at Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI

What did you do after graduation?
After graduating, I moved to Boulder Colorado to pursue my love for the mountains. I worked as a writing tutor for several months, working in a bank, and eventually went back to school at the University of Denver. After receiving my Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science, I quickly landed a job as a Business Librarian at the University of Colorado, Boulder. I am currently a Business Librarian at Michigan State University.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am a Business Librarian in the Gast Business Library at Michigan State University. I teach classes in information literacy and business data management, and I help patrons find and access information for creating business plans, completing research or coursework, or making real-world actionable decisions in entrepreneurial environments. My English degree gave me the confidence and the wherewithal to become a leader. It helped me to engage in critical conversations that bridge disciplines, and it provided a great foundation for research skills that I’ve developed and honed throughout my career.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
Borges, Beckett, and Nabokov. This class incorporated a blog into the curriculum in a way that I hadn’t yet experienced. Edward Maloney may be the best instructor on narrative theory and post-modernism in the U.S. – absolutely superb!

Mya Jones, AB ’11

Administrative Manager | The National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
Baltimore, MD

What did you do after graduation?
After graduation, I became a paralegal at a foreclosure law firm in Baltimore, Maryland. I worked there for two years and then decided I no longer wanted to be in the foreclosure field. However, during my time at the law firm my English degree helped me tremendously with drafting legal documents and correspondence with the courts, as well as research and reading.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am the administrative manager for the education department at the NFB. I coordinate youth programs for blind students. I also spend time in the organization’s advocacy and policy department. I spend a good amount of my time proofreading, writing e-magazine articles, drafting correspondence to outside organizations and even Congress! My English degree has helped me develop my critical writing skills. Words on paper are never enough: they need to actually speak to and grab hold of an audience.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
I absolutely loved my creative writing classes with Jennifer Fink! She helped me expand my writing skills in such a way that allowed me to become not only open verbally, but on paper as well. I learned that no matter the venue you’re writing for everything doesn’t have to be so formal. Also, Leona Fisher was a great mentor to me. She was tough! But, my writing greatly improved because of her.

Caitlin Killion, AB ’12

English & Theory of Knowledge Teacher | Nido de Aguilas
Santiago, Chile

What did you do after graduation?
I moved to Uruguay and taught English at a Catholic school in Montevideo.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
I loved the Lannan seminars. Fanny Howe’s seminar on nonfiction writing was probably my favorite. I also really enjoyed Forche’s poetry workshop and Fink’s Creative Writing class. All of these courses helped me develop as a creative writer and inspired me to read more contemporary literature.

Christina Malliet, AB ’12

Senior Campaign Manager | Lynch Development Associates
St. Paul, MN

What did you do after graduation?
I went to a role as a merchandise manager at Walt Disney World for a year, then went back to get a Master’s of Arts in Catholic Studies. I realized very quickly how much I missed learning!

What is your job/position title? Describe your role and how your English degree has helped you.
My current role is Senior Campaign Director, and I do fundraising/development consulting for Catholic institutions (e.g., schools, parishes). My English degree has provided a certain level of eloquence and evident education that makes me a better public speaker and a more tactful interviewer. I also do significant amounts of writing in this role, as well as editing of superiors’ work.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
My favorite class was my creative writing course at Villa le Balze, with Professor John Pfordresher. It taught me to be adaptable, observant, and creative in a cross-cultural setting. Immediate adaptability is a huge component of my current career!

Alanna McAuley, AB ’13 

Executive Assistant | UW – Office of University Advancement
Seattle, WA

What did you do after graduation?
After a short stint living with my parents in Houston, I moved to Seattle in the fall of 2013. I worked as a technical recruiter for about two years before moving into an Executive Assistant role in the VP office for Advancement at the University of Washington. Around the same time I started my job at UW, I started a part-time Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree, also at UW.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am the Executive Assistant to the Sr. Associate VP for Advancement at UW. I manage his projects, draft and edit his correspondence, and serve as his liaison to internal and external stakeholders. As an English major, I learned to write well, quickly synthesize complex documents, form an opinion on them, support my arguments with facts and evidence, and consider situations from multiple perspectives. I also gained broad exposure to the “cultural canon,” which can be really helpful when you need to connect with many different types of people!

My degree has helped me in a lot of ways that seem trivial, but when taken together, they end up being quite important. I can write clearly and concisely. I can express my ideas articulately, form coherent and cohesive arguments, and support my points with facts. I can have reasonable, courteous debates with people I may or may not agree with. I can put together a presentation that is well-researched and easy to follow. Because I can quickly and easily read, analyze, and synthesize large amounts of information, I can brief my boss on complex issues as they are unfolding or pull together reports about programs. Finally, I am well-read and have a broad cultural understanding that contributes to my overall professional “polish”–a quality that is not to be underestimated when your boss reports to the president of the premier university in the PNW!

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
Hmmm…probably a tie between Prof. Pfordresher’s Dickens class and Jacques Berlinerblau’s Philip Roth class. Both were deep dives into individual authors, but they also required learning about the context the authors worked in. And, they required a LOT of writing!

Fiona Meagher, AB ’15

Program Manager | National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC

What did you do after graduation?
After graduating, I began working at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, where I’d interned during my senior year. I was brought on to work in a new program space where I facilitated public programming and provided AV and logistical support. I also started getting back into the performing arts via community theater — a lifelong passion that I let lay mostly dormant while at Georgetown.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I’m a Program Manager in the Office of Audience Engagement. I train and supervise daily programs staff and interns. I spend much of my time running our History Alive! theater programs, which use the performing arts to share compelling stories and facilitate conversation about history with as many people as possible. Over the past year, I’ve learned from veterans of the Civil Rights movement, met Grammy-award-winning artists, and helped teach a grad school course on museum theater. As our department grew over the past few years, my years studying literature and especially drama let me add a unique perspective to the programs team.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
I often think about Professor Christopher Shinn’s class Pulp Fiction, in which we studied Atwood, Capote, Burroughs, Rowling, and more. It was the first class that encouraged me to study works traditionally dismissed in academic settings and to examine what popular culture means to and about its audiences. Now that I produce work for the totally homogeneous audience of ‘the American people, and international visitors’, I find the perspective incredibly helpful. (Yes, both the Ruby Slippers and Jefferson’s writing desk are important pieces of American History!)

Elizabeth Pipher, AB ’12

Educator | St. David’s School 
Raleigh, NC

What did you do after graduation?
After graduating in 2012, I went on to graduate school at North Carolina State University for a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. While earning my MFA, I also taught English 101 at NC State. I graduated in 2014 and worked for two years in advertising before changing course to become a Middle School English teacher at a small private school in Raleigh, NC.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
I cannot choose one favorite, so I will choose several. I took three classes with Jennifer Fink and learned more about writing as a discipline and a craft from her than from any other teacher I’ve ever had. Her classes were intense and we were always writing, and Jennifer guided us with such humor and charisma. Another favorite creative writing course of mine was taught by David Gewanter, who is never boring. His class was a great mix of generating our own work and practicing our hand at literary criticism. I also took a Jane Austen course and an Oscar Wilde course with Patrick O’Malley, both of which were superb. His love of literature and clear devotion to the art of teaching made every class a delight. Finally, senior year I took a class called Female Bildungsroman with Lori Merish and just adored her, her style, and the texts we studied.

Elizabeth Porter, AB ’11

Senior Assistant Director of Operations | McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University
Washington, DC

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you. I have been with the MBA Admissions team for about 5 years and I help oversee our entire operations. I oversee the management of all of our applications, interviews, decisions, scholarships and directly manage and oversee all of our databases/systems. I am also a member of the admissions committee, travel, and conduct interviews. I believe my English degree, and especially the training at Georgetown, was phenomenal exposure to critical thinking, strategic analysis, and communication. As an English major, I was asked every day to read, process, and analyze information, and then provide my opinion. That’s critical to the work I do now in operations/strategy. I have to be able to quickly process challenging scenarios in a fast-paced office and provide recommendations to senior staff and colleagues alike. Additionally, the caliber of my classmates and professors absolutely elevated the quality of my work. I wasn’t the most outspoken while in undergrad and felt a bit overwhelmed by classmates that came from top-tier high schools, but I was at least exposed to a level of excellence I wouldn’t have seen at other institutions. 

Students in this field have gone on to work/study in cities like Chicago, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Raleigh, NC.

JP Abello, AB ’07

Director of Programming | Viacom, Nickelodeon
New York City, NY

What did you do after graduation?
I had interned throughout my senior year at CNN’s DC bureau on various beats, thinking I wanted to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. Upon graduation I had secured a full-time position at CNN, working as a News Assistant and Weekend Package/Field producer. It was a stressful, time-consuming job at that age, but it helped me realize what I really wanted to do with my life–which was NOT work in 24-hr cable news!

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I work at Viacom, specifically, Nickelodeon [and my title is] Director of Programming. I oversee all Preschool Programming, so Nick Jr. An English degree is so versatile in and out of the television industry. Knowing how to communicate effectively (and correctly) will help you in any job!

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
[My] Intro to Media Studies class [… The professor] introduced topics like cultural appropriation, the concept of simulacra, as well as the societal effects of the iPod (no iPhone yet back in those days of Fall 06!) and cellphones. I still talk about that class today.

Michael Ehinger, AB ’10

Product Manager | FanDuel
New York City, NY

What did you do after graduation?
After graduating I took a few months off to pursue a technology project, and then eventually found my career in creating digital products. Starting in the digital ad agency world at mcgarrybowen, I produced marketing websites for Verizon. From there I moved to DigitasLbi helping to create digital products for American Express, and then finally to FanDuel to help build the best Fantasy Sports product in the world.

What is your job/position title? Describe your role and how your English degree has helped you.
As a Product Manager, you find yourself interacting with many different departments, from engineering to design to finance, each having its own needs and wants. I believe that being an English major fostered my ability to synthesize an array of different inputs to form well-thought-out and organized decisions. Further, the English major gave me the tools to vocalize and champion these decisions, helping me lead teams by influence, one of the most important skills in product management.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
I took many classes with Joseph Fruscione that I routinely look back on fondly, but one class that really impacted me was screenwriting 101 with Professor Glavin. The way he had us scrutinizing the plots of films taught me an endless amount about how to organize thoughts and craft stories, no matter the medium, be it a screenplay, essay, or email. His raw unfiltered comments on assignments were also a taste of the real world! To this day I still watch movies through that analytical lens.

Nicholas Sennott, AB ’13

Production Coordinator | Bron Studios
Vancouver, Canada

What did you do after graduation?

I spent the first summer after graduation for working as an editor for documentarian Ken Burns before driving out to LA and playing poker professionally while working freelance production gigs.

Stephanie Snowden, AB ’11

Project Manager | ESPN
Los Angeles, CA

What did you do after graduation?
I took 6 months off to take video editing classes and did some freelance on-camera work. I then got a production assistant job at ESPN. I have been in media since I graduated from Georgetown.

What is your job/position title? Describe your role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am a project manager at ESPN for the Original Content group. I function as a hybrid coordinator/producer. My strong writing background certainly helps the production aspects of my job. I place great value on my study of literature in regard to my communication skills.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
My favorite classes were Professor Pfordresher’s Charles Dickens class and all of Professor Gewanter’s poetry classes. Michael Collins’ British Theater since 1950 course was certainly the most fun I had in a classroom.

Students in this field have gone on to work in cities like New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA.

Beatriz Albornoz, AB ’14

Litigation Legal Assistant | Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP
Washington, D.C.

What did you do after graduation?
I started working as a litigation legal assistant at Sullivan and Cromwell, LLP in Washington, D.C.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am a litigation legal assistant, meaning I work directly with attorneys at the firm to manage a case load of roughly 5 different cases at a time. Management of the cases entails review and preparation of documents for use at court appearances, depositions, and court filings, proofreading of letters and submissions, assistance formatting and cite-checking briefs, and organization of files via document management systems and tracking logs. My English degree has directly informed the way I communicate with attorneys, other colleagues, clients, and outside counsel; as communication is the centermost aspect of any legal work, my experience as an English major has allowed me to read comprehensively, write succinctly, formulate ideas carefully, and attune myself to loopholes in arguments (grammar goes a long way too!).

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
A course with Professor Wayne Knoll on Faulkner, where I learned how the text is a medium for our most basic human desire: to belong somewhere.

Liani Balasuriya, AB ’11

Attorney | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Chicago, IL

What did you do after graduation?
I worked at a non-profit in DC focused on politics for 1.5 years. Then I worked for the Governor’s Office in New Hampshire for 1.5 years. I attended law school afterward in Chicago at Northwestern. Now I work as a lawyer at a big law firm.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
There was an 18th Century Literature Class about Pirates with a professor who has since left Georgetown […] I remember he really pushed me to think about each paragraph, each sentence, and the overall structure of my work. His feedback was so thorough and intense — I’ll never forget how invested he was in his students. Professor Wickham-Crowley is also amazing — a wonderful teacher and mentor.

Anthony Bejarano, AB ’99

Assistant General Counsel | Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles, CA

What did you do after graduation?
I went to law school. Upon completion, I went back to my hometown of Baldwin Park and began practicing law and getting involved in local politics. I served on the planning commission before being elected to the City Council. I juggled both a full-time legal career and the elected official duties until 2010 and then put my full focus into the practice of law.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am part of a nine-lawyer team that handles 90% of the District’s employment litigation, as well as all advice and counsel work. With 60,000+ employees, we are very busy. A lawyers primary weapon is writing. Being able to effectively convey complex ideas and concepts both to others in the legal field and non-lawyer clients is a crucial skill. Honing your ability to write also can help you become a more effective public speaker.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
Favorite is so difficult, I’d have to go with the class that “turned me” into an English Major: Persuasive Writing with the illustrious Professor Patricia O’Connor (retired). Professor O’Connor taught us how to deconstruct, and then construct a cogent written argument. She showed us the importance of some tactics, and the danger of overreliance on others.

Kathleen Blanchard, AB ’11

Corporate Associate | Hogan Lovells LLP
Washington, DC

What did you do after graduation?

I completed two cross-country bicycling trips to raise money and awareness for affordable housing in the United States with Bike & Build during the summers of 2013 and 2014. During the academic year of 2013-2014, I taught English at a pre-engineering high school in France through the French Ministry of Education (TAPIF). I also guided road-cycling tours in Burgundy and Bordeaux with an outdoor adventure and travel company, began and completed pre-medical coursework, volunteered at a community health clinic, worked in several Portland Emergency Departments, and hiked 2,150 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexican border to the Bridge of the Gods– just this summer, actually.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.

I’m not certain yet– I haven’t gotten started– but my English degree has been immensely helpful in so many aspects of my life, both personal and professional. Even in my outdoor pursuits, particularly long-distance bicycling and backpacking, it’s been lovely to have deep stores of intellectual fodder for those long, solitary trail miles!

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
“Intro to Journalism” – I enjoyed this class because it was based almost like a creative writing class where we were able to write about things we were genuinely interested in while combining out writing skills. In this class I learned how to capture the attention of my audience efficiently as possible.

Morgan Birck, ‘AB 16

Student | University of Michigan Law School
Ann Arbor, MI

What did you do after graduation?
After graduation, I began law school at the University of Michigan, where I will be graduating in May 2019. I am pursuing a career in appellate litigation and criminal justice reform.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
As a law student, English has helped in my writing and critical thinking skills. My critical theory classes have helped shape my analyses of the law, and provide a human context to the legal world. Ultimately, my English degree has helped give context and humanization to my study and application of the law.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
My favorite English class at Georgetown was my Intro to Critical Theory class with Henry Schwarz. Reading Marxist theory, feminist theory, black feminist theory, postmodern theory, and cultural criticism opened my eyes to an intersection of the world I had never seen before. Professor Schwarz constantly pushed us to look at things from new angles and take a critical look at the world around us. I also loved 18th Century Poetry with Aaron Hanlon, who brought 18th-century poetry to life in a way I didn’t know was possible.

Nicole Chenelle, AB ’15

Judicial Clerk | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
Alexandria, VA

Brett Clements, AB ’07

Attorney | Schiff Hardin LLP
Washington, D.C.

Christina Costa, AB ’13

Law Student | Georgetown University, Law
Washington, D.C.

What did you do after graduation?
I traveled around Europe and then began my first year at Georgetown Law!

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am currently a third-year law student. There is a ton of reading and writing in law school, and my English degree definitely prepared me for legal writing and analytical thinking.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
I really enjoyed Shakespeare with Professor Michael Collins and Gothic American Fiction with Professor Niles Tomlinson. Both professors encouraged analytical thinking and had high standards for writing, which I very much valued when I got to law school!

Nikolai Karetnyi, AB ’09

Associate | Reed Smith LLP
New York, NY

What did you do after graduation?
After graduation, I worked as a paralegal for DOJ Tax in Washington, DC for 2 years. I then went to law school at the University of Michigan and attained a Tax LLM from NYU. I am currently a tax associate in Reed Smith’s New York office.

Daniel Raccuia, AB ’08

Litigation Associate | Day Pitney, LLP
Hartford, CT

What did you do after graduation?
[I e]nrolled at Vanderbilt Law School.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am a litigation associate at a regional law firm. A significant portion of my workload involves drafting and editing memoranda and briefs. Being able to write clearly is imperative.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
The Shakespeare class I took with Professor Collins. We approached the plays from both a literary and theatrical perspective, which enhanced my understanding of the works by providing additional context.

Alex Schank, AB ’04

Attorney Advisor | Department of Justice, NYC Immigration Court
New York City, NY

What did you do after graduation?
Conducted research on national narratives and textbooks as a Fulbright Fellow in Amman, Jordan. Returned to Georgetown to complete my Master of Arts in Arab Studies (MAAS) and Juris Doctor (JD).

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.  
I am an attorney advisor at the New York City Immigration Court. My English degree from Georgetown gave me invaluable writing skills I use daily drafting decisions for Immigration Judges. I recall honing my writing and critical reading in classes on Shakespeare, Faulkner, and short stories at Georgetown. Clear, concise, and creative writing remains a challenge for me with every decision or law review article I write, but it is a task I feel prepared to tackle in large part due to my education at Georgetown.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
My favorite English classes were New York Stories and 17th Century Literature with Dr. Maureen Corrigan. I learned from Dr. Corrigan how to focus my writing and complete my assignments efficiently. I also learned how to branch out and enjoy literature I was less familiar with. I took Dr. Corrigan’s 17th Century Literature class because it was a requirement for my English major. I loved her teaching so much that I decided to take her course on New York Stories — a subject I would normally not explore. The modern prose and focus on the beauty and perils of urbanization captivated me. Today I live in New York City and appreciate that professors at Georgetown like Dr. Corrigan pushed me to pursue a wide range of interests and become a better writer.

Eden Schiffman, AB ’08

Associate | Williams & Connolly LLP
Washington, DC

What did you do after graduation?

I worked as a management consulting at Deloitte Consulting LLP. I was accepted to law school, after which I traveled for seven month. I graduated from Harvard Law School, clerked for a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and since then have been an associate at Williams & Connolly LLP.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.

My job involves many of the skills I learned as an English major and more broadly through a liberal arts education. On a daily basis, I research complex topics, attempt to understand and synthesize information, and write persuasively.

Robert Tucker, AB ’06

Attorney | Robison, Curphey & O’Connell, LLC
Toledo, OH

What did you do after graduation?
I went to law school directly after graduation. After graduating law school in 2009, I clerked for two federal judges and now practice civil litigation at a mid-sized law firm in Toledo, Ohio.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I use my English degree every day. I spend most days at my desk reading critically and writing briefs and pleadings to be filed in court.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
To pick one is difficult. If I had to pick one, I would choose either the class on Eliot’s Wasteland or Faulkner, both taught by Wayne Knoll. Both courses taught me how to be a better human living in the world – about “the human heart in conflict with itself” – in addition to the formal topics listed on the syllabus.

Melissa Paquette, AB ’08

Attorney
New York City, NY

What did you do after graduation?
I went to law school and currently work as an attorney at a non-profit where I represent victims of domestic violence.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
My favorite English Class was “Beckett, Borges, and Nabokov”. This class encouraged me to grapple with more challenging texts and introduced me to authors who I still count among my favorite writers.

Students in this field have gone on to work/study in cities like Chicago, New York City, Washington, D.C., Cambridge, MA, and Portland, OR.

Emmy Buck, AB ’16

Associate for Performance Management and Leadership Development | Capital One
Portland, Oregon

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.

I work at Capital One in the HR leadership program where I had the chance to rotate through multiple HR functions across the business. I’m my time I have worked in Recruiting, Compensation, Leadership Development and tested new pilot technology for performance management.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned. Creative Writing with Professor Norma Tilden! I had the chance to develop key creative skills which have fueled my interest in pursuing an honors thesis at Georgetown and later publishing some of my work as well as performing in local live storytelling events. I could not be more grateful for the chance to express my creative interests with the continuous peer-to-peer feedback that was structured into the class.

Victoria Fosdal, AB ’10

Account Executive | GMMB
Washington, D.C.

What did you do after graduation?
After graduation, I joined Teach for America- Charlotte as a 2010 Corp member. I taught 9th and 12th grade ESL and English Language Arts. After TFA, I earned my MSEd in Education, Culture and Society from the University of Pennsylvania and my MA in Strategic Communications from UNC Chapel Hill.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am an account executive on our education team. I provide strategic counsel and communications support for clients working on k-16 education issues. A large component of my work involves writing. Having a strong background in analytical writing provided an excellent foundation.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I loved Prof. Corrigan’s NY Stories class because it took a unique lens to exploring the literary history of New York. I also greatly enjoyed Dr. Rubin’s class on Modernism, which inspired my honors thesis, and Dr. Debelius’ class that worked with the writing center. The editing skills I learned in her class were incredibly valuable when I began my work as a teacher.

Michael Hosbein, AB ’17

Consulting Analyst | Accenture
Washington, DC

What did you do after graduation?
I had a job at a consulting firm lined up, but the week of graduation, my presumed start date was pushed back 6 months to January of the following year. After hearing that, I moved back home to New Jersey and did a couple of very random jobs, including working at a Jersey Mike’s Subs and a liquor store very briefly. Next, I got a job as a waiter at the Tombs and moved back to Washington, DC with some friends from Georgetown. After working there for two months, I got anther job as an intern at this digital branding agency called RepEquity, which was near DuPont Circle in DC. Before starting there though, I took a road trip down to North Carolina to see the Eclipse. After working at the internship for a few months, my full-time job at the company I expected to work for began, and I am still there.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
There are really too many to choose from. However, I have to give David Ebenbach’s Intro to Fiction Writing credit, as it was the class that inspired me to be an English Major. It gave me confidence in my writing, and I learned how to think more critically about my writing style.

Matthew Hoyt, AB ’12

Economist |  Exeter Associates, Inc.
Columbia, MD

What did you do after graduation?
I worked as a project manager and analyst at TargetPoint Consulting, a market research firm that mostly worked for energy sector and political clients and specialized in large-scale data analytics.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
[I am an] Economist. My English degree, more than anything else, trained me how to think in an interdisciplinary way about people, problems, and policy. It also helped me become a better writer in a domain where ability to communicate is a premium skill.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
Liberal Arts Seminar with Patrick O’Malley, where we covered the whole of 19th Century English literature from the Victorians to the Romantics and the early Modernists. It was an incredible tour of intellectual history led by an able guide and oriented to show us the greatest literary and intellectual achievements from the time period. I took this class during the first semester of my Freshman year and it changed the way I thought about reading, writing, and learning.

Michael Krisch, AB ’09

Deputy Director | Brown Institute for Media Innovation
New York City, NY

What did you do after graduation?
Following graduation, I went to graduate school for journalism.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I currently serve as the Deputy Director of the Brown Institute for Media Innovation. We are a bi-coastal research institute housed both at Stanford Engineering and Columbia Journalism School. Our mission is simple: sponsor thinking, building and speculating on how stories are discovered and told in a networked, digitized world. As Deputy Director, I manage roughly 700k in grant funding every year, while also conducting my own research.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
My favorite English class was Pop Culture with Professor Edward Ingebretsen. The essays he assigned were timely and timeless, and the progression of the class helped shape how I approached all other facets of academia while at Georgetown.

Brian McMahon, AB ’17

Business Transformation Consultant | IBM
Cambridge, MA

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.

Business Transformation Consultant. I work as a strategy and technical consultant, and no matter what a project or task entails, the communication skills and ability to consume and analyze large amounts of information that my English experiences instilled are highly valuable.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
Truly one of the hardest questions I’ve had to answer, so I will cheat and not actually give a specific response. Reading Invisible Man with Professor Hochman; Race, Law, and Literature with Professor So; my Katrina Culture capstone with Professor Fox. These are just a few of the classes that enhanced and shaped my love of consuming great writing – in a variety of forms. I think the strength of the department is reflected in the fact that I can look back on my time as an English major and remember so many professors, classes, and reading materials with clarity and joy.

Ben Slingerland, AB ’11

Director of the Agent Network | Third Channel | Boston, MA
College Scouting Director | Student-Athlete Showcase | Beverly, MA

What did you do after graduation?
After getting my BA in English from Georgetown in 2011, I got my Masters in Sports Management from Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies while I took my 5th year of eligibility on the Georgetown Men’s Soccer Team. Upon graduating with my Master’s Degree in May 2012, I went down to Bradenton, FL to work at IMG Academy in Sports Business.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am the Director of the Agent Network at ThirdChannel. I handle the management of lots of recruiting activity and so my ability to be organized, manage my time, and communicate effectively are all extremely important.

In my position as a College Scouting Director at Student-Athlete Showcase, I sell our services to student-athlete high school students and their parents. Again, I have to communicate effectively and be persuasive.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
“Intro to Journalism” – I enjoyed this class because it was based almost like a creative writing class where we were able to write about things we were genuinely interested in while combining out writing skills. In this class I learned how to capture the attention of my audience efficiently as possible.

Vonetta Young, AB ’07

Investment Associate | Abbott Capital Management, LLC
New York City, NY

What did you do after graduation?
I did media relations for the journal Science for a year, then went to a communications consulting firm. After […] that job, I went to a large investment consulting firm called Cambridge Associates, where I edited research papers. Then I pursued an MBA in finance.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
In my role, I perform quantitative and qualitative due diligence on private equity and venture capital funds. I look at their returns and other numbers, but I focus a lot on the qualifications of the team that is investing in companies. My English degree has helped me be the best writer at my firm. (I may or may not be exaggerating. I’ll let you decide.) I write investment memos that are up to ten pages long, and these memos help our 18-person team decide where to allocate millions of our clients’ dollars. Focusing on literature also enhanced my interpersonal skills, which is invaluable in this, the “people side” of finance.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
My favorite English class was Short Fiction Writing with Jennifer Fink. The class basically changed my life. I learned to take care, in my own writing, to avoid clichés, and how to keep a reader’s attention. I learned that good “literary” stories are driven by character: complex souls that unfold and unfold and unfold on the page. During that class, I decided that I would write a literary novel. I haven’t written it yet, but I pay so much more attention to the world, and characters, around me in preparation.

Students in this field have gone on to work/study in cities like New York City, Washington, D.C., and Dublin, Ireland.

Christina Balz, AB ’07

Nurse, Kids Mobile Medical Clinic | Medstar Georgetown University Hospital
Washington, D.C.

What did you do after graduation?
Right after graduation, I served in Americorps teaching HIV prevention information in DCPS. I continued in public health for the subsequent three years and worked at a youth-serving organization that focused on HIV prevention, treatment, and outreach. There, I oversaw all the HIV-related health education in DCPS and charter schools, including curriculum, facilitation, and training–it was an amazing job that I loved! After all that time in health education, I decided to go back to school to become a nurse.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
Although I don’t work in a field that a lot of people would recognize as connected to my work in the English department as an undergrad, I use the skills I learned as an English major every day! Practically, I am so thankful that I have the ability to read and write critically– it is a skill that can never be taken for granted. More broadly, I apply directly the lessons I learned through all those “close reads” of both novels and theory articles. Most of my patients fall into any number of under-resourced populations, and the lessons I learned from English classes focusing on the historically marginalized and underserved have been incredible resources to me in understanding the challenges my patients face in accessing healthcare and maintaining wellness. If nothing else, I am glad I was an English major because I could churn out a 10-12 page research paper in my sleep while my nursing-school classmates who had been science majors in undergrad whined and struggled.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
How can I choose? Lori Merish’s “19th Century American Lit and the American Dream” will always stay with me– I have never had a professor so able to tease out common themes and create a class that was both true to the course title and expandable to global themes. I took that course the fall of my senior year and just remember thinking to myself while writing that final paper in the doldrums of Lauinger that this was truly an assignment that required the congress of every class I had taken as an undergraduate. She was amazing. I also can’t leave out Louise Bernard’s “Contemporary African American Literature” and Dennis Williams’ “Intro to Fiction Writing”– they were both unendingly patient professors who challenged students to engage work more critically than we thought we could. Oh and of course Suzanne Del Gizzo’s gateway course– my first English class at Georgetown on Feminism and Modernism. My list goes on!

Leigh Finnegan, AB ’13

Medical Student | Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

What did you do after graduation?
I worked at the National Institutes of Health for two years.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
Dr. Mudan’s Shakespearian Tragedy class. I learned about plays I’d never have read, about the different ways in which performance and stage direction can change the meaning of a scene.

Vince Henneberg, AB ’12

Graduate Student | University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration
Chicago, IL

What did you do after graduation?
One year fellowship with Urban Prep Charter Academy in Chicago. I mentored and taught an advisory group of 27 freshmen at an all-male high school in Englewood, Chicago. I continued teaching English there for the two years following the fellowship.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
[As a g]raduate student I’ve definitely benefited from all the reading and paper writing I did as an undergraduate. Life is definitely harder after college, but as far as my experience two months in, the academic work is easier.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
Narratives of Travel with Dennis Todd, as well as any of the courses Michael Collins taught. Narratives of Travel changed the lens through which I see the world in regard to oppression and post-colonialism. Michael Collins British Theater (among other classes) helped me make sense of my identity as an Irish American.

Elizabeth Garbitelli, AB ’12

Medical Student | Tufts University School of Medicine
Boston, MA

What did you do after graduation?
After graduating, I worked as a journalist, first in public media and then with the Associated Press in Vermont, reporting on local politics and the opioid crisis. Covering that epidemic is what planted the seeds for my career change. I then worked as a patent litigation paralegal at Paul Weiss. I assisted on cases related to medical devices and pharmaceuticals and this crystallized my desire to pursue medicine. I returned to school to complete my premedical requirements and will begin medical school this year.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
English courses I took at Georgetown left a lasting impact on how I approach written media in all its forms, whether a novel, journal op-ed, historical biography, news article, or case study. Studying literature reinforced an eye for detail as well as taught me what constitutes an effective argument and how to form my own critical analyses. The classes I took also strengthened my love of reading. Writing formed the basis of my career in journalism but I think my degree in English also helped me in my path to medicine as well. Studying literature and poetry brings us into the heart and spirit of the author, the characters, the place. And this strengthens our empathy for others and opens us to new worlds.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
My favorite class was Professor Patrick O’Malley’s seminar on the Gothic Novel. I loved exploring the cultural and historical anxieties embedded in those wild, gaudy, campy books. Professor O’Malley also helped me to become a more effective writer.

Mary Ryan, AB ’13

Medical Student | Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine
Portland, Oregon

What did you do after graduation?

I completed two cross-country bicycling trips to raise money and awareness for affordable housing in the United States with Bike & Build during the summers of 2013 and 2014. During the academic year of 2013-2014, I taught English at a pre-engineering high school in France through the French Ministry of Education (TAPIF). I also guided road-cycling tours in Burgundy and Bordeaux with an outdoor adventure and travel company, began and completed pre-medical coursework, volunteered at a community health clinic, worked in several Portland Emergency Departments, and hiked 2,150 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexican border to the Bridge of the Gods– just this summer, actually.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.

…My English degree has been immensely helpful in so many aspects of my life, both personal and professional. Even in my outdoor pursuits, particularly long-distance bicycling and backpacking, it’s been lovely to have deep stores of intellectual fodder for those long, solitary trail miles!

Amy (Reavis) Volz, AB ’14

Coordinator of Domestic Violence Services | Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse
Pullman, WA

What did you do after graduation?
I began working for a non-profit organization in Washington State that advocates for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. I started out as their violence prevention educator and have since been promoted to be the Coordinator of Domestic Violence Services, which includes managing our emergency shelter.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
[As] Coordinator of Domestic Violence Services my English degree has been critical in my field. I would say the oral communication I learned in small English seminars at Georgetown has been the most important skill for me. I am constantly tasked with communicating my ideas to a wide variety of people — and the way we use our words (delicately and intentionally) can help victims of violence start their healing journey. It can also help to educate the community about the issue of gender- and power-based violence. I also use my written communication skills to help survivors file for protection orders, dissolutions, and parenting plans.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
Keats & Byron with Professor Wu — never have I agonized over writing such short papers. I learned that word economy is difficult, but also powerful. Professor Wu taught me how to always have my critical essays backed up by actual textual evidence in the poems we read. We were never just “pulling ideas from nowhere.” We were reading poems and drawing conclusions from the words themselves. It was a beautiful class.

Students in this field have gone on to work/study in cities like Baltimore, MD.

Jennafer Bonello, AB ’06

Deputy Director of Entertainment Relations | World Wildlife Fund
Washington, DC

What did you do after graduation?

After graduation, I contemplated going to law school. But the advice I got from current law students was ‘Don’t do that if you just don’t know what else to do!’ So I worked for a year at an education consulting firm and then a few years at a local nonprofit, The Pro Bono Institute, which was very inspiring. We worked with law firms and corporate legal departments to develop their pro bono legal programs.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.

I am currently deputy director of entertainment relations on the media and external affairs team at the World Wildlife Fund. As the largest conservation nonprofit in the world, WWF aims to build a future where humans live in harmony with nature. In my role, I work to communicate to US audiences about our work and hopefully inspire them to help. Given that my job has a heavy focus on communications, my English degree helps immensely. Being a strong storyteller, writer, communicator, brainstormer, etc., etc. helps each and every day!

Christopher Browne, AB ’13

Communications Coordinator | MLB, Washington Nationals
Washington, D.C.

What did you do after graduation?
After graduation, I chose to pursue a career in sports. With this in mind, I earned a master’s degree in Sports Industry Management from Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies in the summer of 2014. While enrolled in that program, I interned for Monumental Sports & Entertainment in their corporate communications department and then acted as the business operations intern for Capital Sports Ventures.

After obtaining my master’s degree I did content creation for an athletics website company called BigTeams, located in McLean, VA. After a year with BigTeams, I received an offer for my dream job, working in the communications department for Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals. I’ve been working there since August 2015 and have loved every minute of it!

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I currently work as the Communications Coordinator for Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals. In this role, I have a hand in both corporate communications and baseball communications. My main responsibilities include monitoring the media coverage of the team, building relationships with reporters and creating media pitches, and pitching stories to garner coverage for the team.

My English degree has certainly helped prepare me for my current role. First of all, being able to write effectively is a skill that will never lose its value. Thanks to my Georgetown English degree, I feel that I have high-level verbal and written communication skills, which are needed in every workplace. In addition, majoring in English helped refine my critical thinking abilities and enhanced my attention to detail.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
I took several amazing courses in the English Department at Georgetown, however, my favorites were the classes taught by Professor Rebecca Boylan. Honestly, I took too many of her classes to pick a single favorite. In her classes, I gained a greater appreciation for how a literary text reflects the time period in which it was written. I also improved my critical thinking skills and my ability to read and write analytically. Not only was Professor Boylan energetic and engaged in class, but she was equally committed to helping her students outside of the classroom. For these reasons, her classes stick out in my mind.

Alexandra Buck, AB ’14

Communications Associate | The American College of Cardiology
Washington, D.C.

What did you do after graduation?
After graduating, I was a Public Affairs Intern at the Portland Cement Association for 3 months. Then I took a full-time, benefited position at the American College of Cardiology, working as a Communications Associate.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
My position title is Communications Associate on the News/Publications team. I write news stories and profile articles, create electronic newsletters, and manage our social media pages. My English degree helped me to write clearly and succinctly, and to use language creatively–both of which are skills I use daily in my position.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
My favorite English class was Professor Ebenbach’s fiction writing course, where I learned to view literature from a writer’s perspective and create creative pieces of my own.

Lillian Cowles, AB ’13

Underwriter | Argo Group
Chicago, IL

What did you do after graduation?
I joined a graduate training program for a commercial insurance company. I lived in NYC, Irvine (CA), and Chicago. I learned about different lines of insurance and how it exactly works. After my program, I remained with the company and am currently an underwriter for general liability insurance.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am an Underwriter. I review commercial insurance applications for specialty businesses to determine if we should offer an insurance quote to them. My English degree has helped me tremendously with my communication skills. I have to speak with a variety of people in many different ways. Being able to clearly communicate my thoughts is important to continue fluid business practices.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
I took a variety of English classes and enjoyed all of them, but I think I’d have to narrow my favorite class to Michael Collins’ Shakespeare class. Of course, I had read many Shakespeare plays prior to his class, but he taught us that there can be an infinite amount of ways to read and perform Shakespeare. One person will read one line differently than another. I learned that communicating your opinion/thoughts/etc. can be incredibly difficult since one person may read your e-mail completely differently than you had intended.

Lindsay Crouch, AB ’12

Associate Director, Athletics Stewardship | Georgetown University, Athletic Development
Washington, D.C.

What did you do after graduation?
At the end of the summer, I began working in the athletic development office at Georgetown.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
My role entails engaging with our donors to ensure they feel connected to Georgetown University, the athletic department, and our various programs. My degree from Georgetown taught me critical skills that I use on a daily basis, including the ability to effectively communicate, write both creatively and professionally, and think critically as I make decisions based on what will best suit our donor base.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
My favorite class was a Faulker Class with Wayne Knoll. Faulkner is my favorite author and it was so much fun to be able to read the vast majority of his works within a semester. This class taught me the value of literature and how the best works have lessons that span history.

Iman Hariri-Kia, AB ’17

Digital Media, Writer/Editor | Elite Daily — Bustle Digital Group, & Teen Vogue

New York, NY

What did you do after graduation?
I immediately began working at Teen Vogue, where I served as the assistant to the Editor in Chief until the magazine folded. I then went on to become a lifestyle writer at Bustle Digital Media, and a part-time contributor to Teen Vogue.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am the Associate Sex & Relationships Editor at Elite Daily and a Teen Vogue contributing writer. Some of my most acclaimed pieces began as entries for my honors thesis. I use my degree every single day — editing my writers’ work, and telling stories that inspire and provoke conversation.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
It’s hard to pick, but I loved Fiction Writing with Prof. Fink. She taught me how to become a dynamic storyteller, among many other valuable lessons.

Bella Gerard, AB ’17

Beauty Writer | Elite Daily

New York, NY

What did you do after graduation? After graduation, I joined the Health Magazine team at Time Inc., which was one of the largest media companies in the world at the time. My English major and Studio Art minor helped me secure a position on their social media team, where I also wrote beauty content for Health.com.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you. As a beauty writer for Elite Daily, I get to work with brands I love on a regular basis to produce makeup, skincare, and wellness-related content. I also oversee my lifestyle and beauty blog, La Bella Vita. The writing and editing skills I gained as an English Major at Georgetown were essential in order for me to learn how to create effective and engaging content for my current audiences.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned. My favorite classes had to be those required for the Honors Thesis program. My thesis, “DRUNK TEXTS: poetry for a digitally preoccupied generation”, is still one of the accomplishments I am most proud of, and being able to work with incredible teachers and bounce ideas off of my talented classmates was an invaluable experience for me.

Lauren D’Souza AB ’13

Founder & CEO | sqribbly
Columbus, OH

What did you do after graduation?
I started out with Teach for America, then joined the startup world in Columbus, OH. I worked for the marketing department of Rev1 Ventures (a venture development organization), before branching off on my own to start a marketing firm specializing in early-stage technology startups and investment firms.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
Founder & CEO – In my current job, I work with over a dozen startups and investment firms, each with a different business model, target audience, and value proposition. It’s a lot to keep track of day in and day out, and on top of that, most of my clients have a technical background and don’t really know how to articulate their companies’ features and benefits. My English major has served me well because it helps me navigate the middle ground between my clients’ value propositions and their prospective customers’ expectations.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
In terms of content, my favorite class was Dr. Shinn’s Postmodern Lit class. Dr. Shinn made the class a lot of fun, and I found it easy to immerse myself in the content. I also enjoyed Dr. Berlinerblau’s Phillip Roth class because the class size was so small (I think we had six students) and so the caliber of discussion was higher than in many of my larger classes. I pushed myself harder in his class than in any other, and so I still remember that as one of my most pivotal experiences at Georgetown.

Catherine Farr, AB ’13

Language Strategist | Maslansky + Partners
New York City, NY

What did you do after graduation?
[I w]orked at an advertising company in New York City.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
[As a] Language Strategist, my role combines being a writer, consultant, strategist, and researcher — so my English degree is useful each and every day. I write messages that we test in focus groups, edit content, and develop training materials to help companies communicate more effectively. Maslansky + Partners is a language strategy firm that helps clients solve business challenges through the effective use of language.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
“Wicked” with Professor Rebecca Boylan. I took her introductory Victorian Lit class as well, but loved this class because we went into such depth and drew comparisons with what we read to different philosophers.

Kathleen Koster, AB ’08

Freelance Journalist
Los Angeles, CA

What did you do after graduation?
I backpacked through Peru and Bolivia with two fellow alumnae. I then took a job in journalism in D.C.. I began as an associate editor and worked my way up to become a Director of Websites/Senior Editor at a large publishing company. I covered health care reform in depth (attending Congress debates and regulatory hearings with a Senate Press Pass); it was a fascinating and rewarding experience. After a six-year tenure at the publishing company, I received my Master of Fine Arts in Fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts. I just completed my first novel, which I’m pitching to agents, and am transitioning into a career in television writing.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
As a journalist, my degree was invaluable in providing the critical thinking skills and writing poise needed to become a professional writer. My work in the Honors Thesis program prepared me for the rigors of graduate school and provided the foundation for cultivating a portfolio in creative writing (both nonfiction, fiction, and scriptwriting).

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
My favorite class was Eco-Narrative with Professor Norma Tilden. She was incredibly inspiring and provided wonderful writing exercises. I loved how she taught us to write creative non-fiction that fused our creative point of view and lyrical prose with a solid foundation in facts and natural phenomena.

Benjamin Mazzara, AB ’15

Web Producer | Bisnow Media
New York City, NY

What did you do after graduation?
Spent a month and a half looking for a job, and then was hired to be a Web Producer for Bisnow Media in New York City. After three months, I was promoted to Bisnow’s Custom Content division.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
Creative Writing with David Ebenbach. Not only did it help me learn about the “brain problem” (making sure that your audience has the same grip and information that you do) [but it also helped] me work on keeping [my] responses short and full of important info[rmation].

Leila Sidawy, AB ’06

Director of Program Marketing | Georgetown School of Continuing Studies
Washington, D.C.

What did you do after graduation?
In the nearly ten years since I graduated, I spent the first three working as an account manager and account executive for a commercial security company, Kastle Systems. I left Kastle to pursue a Master’s in Communications from American University and then moved to Geneva to do PR for an international nonprofit. I returned to [the] DC area, where I lead the marketing for a private tutoring and test-prep company for three years. That then brought me back to Georgetown University where I have been a marketing manager and senior marketing manager at the School of Continuing Studies, promoting professional master’s degree programs.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
[As the] Senior Marketing Manager[, w]ith our copywriter, I write for our marketing materials, web copy, events, emails, etc. I am also an eagle-eye editor, catching complex grammatical errors and punctuation typos. Beyond the technical skill of writing and editing, however, my degree in English has been paramount in my communication skills with employees and vendors. I’m often lauded for being extremely clear in my communications, leaving no room for misinterpretation or error. I organize my thoughts well, convey my intentions clearly, and express gratitude genuinely.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
Professor Rosenblatt’s Fall 2005 Eliot’s Waste Land: This course was an investigation of TS Eliot’s principle work, The Waste Land, and the other literary works he references throughout. Focusing an entire semester on one long poem and its accompanying allusions gave the course direction different from any other course I had taken. The analyses we did both as a class and in individual assignments were extensive, allowing us each to be submerged within the text. It was a transformative experience.

Lauren Weber, AB ’13

Journalist | The Huffington Post
Washington, D.C.

What did you do after graduation?
I originally took a job at Booz Allen Hamilton in government communications consulting (I was a double major in Government as well), but found myself unhappy in the role. The Huffington Post recruited me to launch a new product called The Morning Email, and I now write the morning news with a bit of snark for them each weekday. I love it.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
While my role is ever-changing, I write The Morning Email, a daily roundup of the news. From the breaking headlines to the fun zingers, I get to send out a digest to a little under three-quarters of a million people each day. On top of that, I report on passion projects, including my latest investigative feature of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. I also give commentary on the 2016 race, through weekly pieces and HuffPost Live. My English degree made this all possible. It gave me the analytical and writing skills necessary to spend every day writing and analyzing the news and the topics that interest me. And it gave me the tools to spend each day in a job that I love.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
Leona Fisher’s Young Adult Literature class — Professor Fisher pushed me each class to write better, work harder, and dig deeper in my analysis. The woman was a legend and a force, and I was lucky to have her.

Jenna Weiner, AB ’09

Product Marketing Manager | Dropbox
San Francisco, CA

What did you do after graduation?
Moved to Boston and took a job as a business and technology writer for a content marketing agency. (Though there was no such thing as content marketing in 2009, so it was referred to as an online news agency.)

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
[As the] Product Marketing Manager[,] I lead product launches for new consumer-focused features and functionality. This involves crafting the go-to-market strategy, positioning, and messaging for these features, coordinating a bunch of different stakeholders (press, product, support, etc.), and often drafting many user-facing communications.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
That’s a hard question, but I’d have to go with Norma Tilden’s Creative Nonfiction Writing Workshop. I learned so much about writing simply and powerfully, and also learned a lot about myself and my classmates because the pieces were so personal. Those writing lessons have stuck with me.

Students in this field have gone on to work/study in cities like Washington, D.C., New York City, and Los Angeles.

Albert Eisenberg, AB ’13

Deputy Communications Director | Gubernatorial Campaign in CT
Connecticut

What did you do after graduation?
First backpacked in Europe for 4 months, then worked at a social-media advertising agency, then went freelance in 2015 and have been a full-time digital communications consultant, mostly related to politics / non-profits / public interest. Worked as Communications Director of the Philadelphia GOP in 2016 election cycle. Have also appeared in print in my name for Philadelphia Inquirer, National Review, TownHall, and have appeared in major TV outlets as well as a commentator. Currently, I’m working in communications on a governor’s race in Connecticut.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
Messaging, framing ideas, understanding and synthesizing arguments, producing fresh + incisive content that cuts through the noise… it’s all directly related!

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
Anything with Prof. Wu! Or Prof. Fink. Both are amazing, life-changing professors. Recently wrote Prof. Wu a recommendation for an award, in fact…

Ashish Pradhan, AB ’09

Senior UN Analyst | International Crisis Group
New York, NY

What did you do after graduation?

[I] moved to NY and interned for a think tank called International Crisis Group for six months which helped me land my first full-time job as a Researcher in the same organization’s Nepal office

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.

My English degree has helped me immensely because writing has been a central part of every job since I’ve left Georgetown. While most of my English major courses were not heavily writing-intensive, they helped me sharpen my ability to articulate my thoughts more crisply. My on-the-job training at Crisis Group has helped further sharpen my writing–especially in helping me trim the fat–but this would not have been possible without the strong foundation set by the English Department at Georgetown. Most of my English major classes at Georgetown were on issues that I was personally interested in–whether it was African American poetry or the Harlem Renaissance. And learning about things I cared about in a formal classroom environment was not something I was accustomed to prior to Georgetown. Learning how you can balance your personal interests with your academic (and personal) endeavors was a really valuable lesson on the importance of balance. Ever since then, I’ve sought to always ensure I foster my personal interests in some shape or form through the work that do for my organization.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.

Many to choose from but African American poetry with Prof. Libbie Rifkin. I learned a lot from the material about the generational damage of the slave trade and the story of Black America as captured through the written word. But, just as importantly, I gained a mentor in Prof. Rifkin who is a cornerstone of the English Department.

Jessica (O’Hara) White, AB ’07

Public Health Policy Analyst | U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Washington, D.C.

What did you do after graduation?
I was also pre-med and a government minor, so I went to a health policy job at a non-profit in DC after graduation. I intended to be there for only a year before attending dental school, but decided to follow a career path in health policy instead. I worked for the non-profit for 3 years before attending graduate school at Johns Hopkins for my masters in public policy with a health policy focus.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.
I am a public health policy analyst at HHS, in the Office of the Secretary, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), Division of Science Policy. The ASPE is the principal advisor to the Secretary of HHS on policy development and is responsible for major activities in policy coordination, legislative development, strategic planning, policy research, evaluation, and economic analysis. The Division of Science Policy is responsible for science and public health-related policy development and analysis, budget review, assisting with the development of legislation, and review of federal regulations. As an analyst and now team lead for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), I conduct and coordinate work on a variety of public health and science policy issues. I work closely with public health and science agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). I am also responsible for conducting policy analyses, developing and implementing Departmental initiatives, and coordinating activities to address public health and science issues across various agencies. My English degree has provided me with the skills to conduct my daily work, which includes significant reading comprehension, analysis, and strong writing skills.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
It’s hard to select one class but my favorite instructor (and major advisor) was Professor Michael Collins. He truly taught me how to be a critical reader and thoughtful writer and to be a stronger editor of my own work.

Tyler DeLoach, AB ’16

Director of Operations | El Paso Rhinos Hockey Team
El Paso, TX

David Shriver, AB ’11

Men’s Lacrosse Assistant Lacrosse Coach | Georgetown University
Washington, DC

What did you do after graduation?

After I graduated I took a job at Penn State being a volunteer lacrosse coach for their men’s team for two years. I then proceeded to take a full-time job also with the men’s lacrosse program as their Director of Lacrosse Operations which I did for four years. In the summer of 2017, I accepted a job to come back and return to Georgetown as an assistant lacrosse coach – which is my current job.

Describe your current job/role and how your English degree has helped you.

In my role, I assist the head coach in many different areas of managing our program on a daily basis. Some of those areas include recruiting, scouting, practice preparation, coaching, budget, academics, alumni relations, and scheduling. I would say my English degree has helped me immensely in regard to my critical thinking skills which is important as a coach. It also has helped me a lot in terms of my communication skills.

Describe your favorite English class as an English major and what you learned.
Representing Revolution – 1689-1789, in this class I felt that we learned so much about the power of writing and how it can literally ignite people to revolt and change the status quo. I just thought it was so powerful to see how people’s words can alter the course of human history.