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.
