The department congratulates María Cardona who recently completed her Masters in Translation Studies at University College Cork in Ireland and has started a new position as writer, editor, and marketing specialist for a Nebraska-based Hispanic Ministry magazine. Cardona had these reflections to share on graduate school and finding work as a writer.
What Can You Even Do With A Writing Degree?Marieugenia Cardona
When I finished my Creative Writing degree in 2017 I was excited but also terrified. As happy as I was that I’d pursued my dream to become a writer, I was also nervous about what kind of job my degree could translate to. If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that I wasn’t cut out to be a teacher which eliminated the go-to career choice. I still wanted to be a writer and to this day I still do, but I knew I needed something else to keep a roof over my head and food on the table.A few months after graduation I shipped off to Cork, Ireland to complete my Masters in Translation Studies. After having done a semester of my undergrad at UCC, I was sure I wanted to go back and I was looking forward to it. Studying in Ireland was one of the greatest experiences of my life. While I did have a bit of trouble adjusting to no longer being an English major but a Translation one, as I settled into my new role and my new home, great things happened and amazing people came into my life.However, when summer came, the same dread of “what now?” that I’d experienced upon completing my BA returned and I was faced with a difficult position. I’d fallen in love with Ireland and Europe in general and I wanted nothing more than to stay. By now I’d had a poem and a personal essay published so I felt more confident in my ability to “make it” but these publications weren’t paying any bills.I spent most of my summer working a housekeeping job, completing my MA thesis, and looking for work in Europe. This proved to be quite a hardship. Countless applications and interviews for content writing and editing jobs kept leading to the same results: I was qualified enough, but they just couldn’t swing the visa. I was feeling helpless and frustrated with myself because I felt that had I pursued a more traditional degree, job hunting would be easier.In fairness, I knew this wasn’t true because many of my friends (both European, Puerto Rican, and American) were struggling to find jobs in their field. I was at least thankful that I’d been doing content writing and editing during my undergrad which gave me the experience most jobs required. Regardless, I was still frustrated by jobs requiring ridiculously high years of experience as well as skills that weren’t directly connected to a Creative Writing degree.When October came, I had to leave Ireland and I felt truly discouraged. I’d lost out on so many opportunities due to Visa issues and I was sick of the job hunting process. Over 200 job applications to 10 different countries later, I received an email inviting me to a final interview for a job as a writer, editor, and marketing specialist for a Hispanic Ministry magazine based in Nebraska. Every day after I got the job I kept expecting a call or an email saying something had gone wrong and the job was no longer mine.Thankfully, that didn’t happen. I’ve just moved out to Nebraska and feel so happy to be able to actually make money from my writing while also being able to help others. And as cheesy as it may sound, I am grateful for the English department at AU every day because I know every single success I’ve had has been because of the amazing faculty in the department. If you asked me a year ago what I was going to do with a Creative Writing degree, I would’ve said I had no idea, but now I finally have an answer to that pesky question: I’m going to write.
