I started at Ashland with every intention of becoming an English teacher. After two years of education and English courses, I realized that education is not for me, but English is. I set out to complete my English degree, but with the looming question: What can I do with an English major?
Dr. Linda Joyce Brown was my academic advisor at the time, and she provided some much-needed insight. She explained that education majors have a clear career path to become teachers. While there is not a clear path for English majors, there are career opportunities; I just need to be creative.
With this advice in mind, I set out to gain experience through internships, work study, and volunteer service to determine my career path. Most notably, I worked in social media, sales, tutoring, and finally grant writing. In grant writing, I found that my love for philanthropy and my love for writing could coexist as a career. I interned with Ashland University’s Grants and Foundation Relations Office for a year, and when I graduated, they hired me.
Grant writing is form of technical writing used to fundraise for nonprofits. As a grant writer, I work with dedicated faculty to write grant proposals that fund Ashland’s unique, academic programs. Through my position, I have become familiar with many of the programs at Ashland, and I even work with faculty in the Department of Languages and Literatures.
In addition to writing grant proposals, I train interns in grant writing, which is one of the most rewarding aspects of my position. I enjoy supporting students as they learn and grow as technical writers throughout their internship. I guess I became an educator after all.
From my undergraduate coursework, the Advanced Composition course, taught by Dr. Brown, and the English Grammar & Usage course, taught by Dr. Donatini, best prepared me for a career in technical writing. These courses focused on the specifics of grammar and rhetoric, which I use to craft compelling and concise grant proposals. While these two courses stand out due to their content relative to my career path, all of my English courses and professors had a positive impact on my writing ability. I would specifically like to thank Dr. Waterman and Dr. Weaver who taught most of my English courses. I am so grateful to the faculty who pushed me to be a better writer and expand my critical thinking skills.
