My goal for the culminating project was difficult to establish. Originally, I wanted to research becoming a children’s author. However, due to another group choosing the same career, I was asked to pick again. I had no idea what I wanted to pick so I put the assignment on the backburner while I brainstormed some ideas. In the interim, my sister asked if I would give a lesson on creative writing to her second grade class. Because my focus within the Writing Arts in creative writing and because I enjoy visiting her class, I agreed. The obstacle I faced was the teaching part. While both my parents are high school teachers and my sister is an elementary school teacher, I never felt like I was meant to follow that same path. Ever the rebel, I think part of me rejected that idea simply out of a need to be different. However, it is more likely due to the fact that I am disorganized, impatient, and equipped with a vocabulary that could make the most vulgar of sailors blush.

Lesson Overview:
http://sluceontheloose.weebly.com/miscellaneous.html

                After teaching the lesson, I realized how enjoyable it was. However, observing my sister play the role of “broken record” made me certain that I couldn’t teach elementary level kids. And I’m generally annoyed by high schoolers so they were also out. That left me with the college level which I honestly began to consider. I had an epiphany this semester that I no longer fear the workshop but instead get a sort of adrenaline rush listening to people critique my work and bring about ideas I hadn’t considered. And in college, people chose the classes they want to take. Students in levels below college are forced to write papers and therefore often times bullshit their ways through the standard 5 paragraph structure that is basic writing. But in college, I can easily surround myself with people who are passionate about their writing and honestly want to see an improvement, not just a grade inked into the top corner of their assignment.

                Since I already planned on going to grad school which I learned is a requirement for being a college writing professor, I felt as though I’m already on track for the profession. In order to figure out the remaining steps, I interviewed Professor Sanford Tweedie. The interview was as follows:

LB: Did you always want to be a teacher or did you try your hand at a different career first?

ST: Oh my how long can I make this story? Ok I’ll do the short version. When I graduated from college I entered a poetry master’s program. But I didn’t like it and quit. Then I thought “now what? Ok I’ll try school…” This is first time thought about being a teacher. My mother was a high school English teacher so I had had no desire to be one as well. I went back to Michigan to get a certification in teaching. I was taking masters courses and applied to teach freshmen comp at same time I was student teaching for the 8th grade. I blame it on my supervising teacher. I didn’t have the patience for these kids but nothing bothered my advisor. So I started teaching college and have been doing that ever since.

LB: What degrees do you hold as a writing professor?

ST: Bachelors in English lit form u Michigan masters in language and PhD from university of Wisconsin English in communication and rhetoric.

LB: What did the process of becoming a writing teacher involve?

ST: I think they do a better job now. Was taking a method course for high school English some “how to write” in that. As a TA, there was a practicum about teaching writing another course on writing theory=introduction. Learning is teaching. I don’t remember an orientation.

Glib answer to previous question: I didn’t learn to teach writing until I could take apart other peoples writing so yeah in order to teach writing I had to understand structure organization how people move from idea to idea and discuss that.

LB: Do you do/have time for writing on the side?

ST: [Chuckles] Well as a professor you have to write it’s a requirement of tenure of service of everything you do. Your question is do I write things I wanna write, right? We had to write a letter when they redid the tenure. I’m writing constantly [chuckles] trying to work on my own stuff, on academic stuff, on my career stuff, but not as much on my own as I’d like. I’m looking around my office and there’s nothing but words. All these piles are piles of words. Shadows of a Fallen Wall took 11 years to write. It’s very easy in academia to get distracted because there’s a lot of other things going on that require immediate attention. What hurts people in tenure is that there is so much to do and scholarship gets pushed to the side.

LB: What is your favorite part of being a writing professor?

ST: [pondering] Can I answer that a couple different ways? I enjoy working with text and because I’m working with students we can see those texts change and alter and become stronger and students as developing writers gain awareness of what they’re doing. But then to answer a different way, part of why I don’t think I would have been a good high school teacher is because that’s

 The term professor encompasses teacher scholarship service opportunity to guide college curriculum development assessment so much more than just teaching so uh you know this was 1994 a dept of communications and we were the college writing program and ive had opportunity to watch it grow and be a part of it we have 4 majors as undergrad and a masters. Its feeling part of something bigger not just teaching. That’s what I see as one of my roles in this. I think sometimes my collegueas loose sight of the student. Not the just teaching is important and im easily, distracted don’t mind doing 1000 things at once.

LB: What is your biggest struggle as a writing professor?

ST: [laughs] that’s a good question Lacey [pondering] the biggest struggle is also the biggest reward. The student writing, I mentioned before how much I enjoyed that. I enjoy working with text but the paper load is tremendous and staying on top is difficult. But I refuse ask students to do less to lighten that load. I’m a believer that you learn through the writing.

Finding time to clean my desk is another struggle.

LB: My desk is a mess, don’t feel bad. Have you ever taught at a level below or above undergrad? If so, what was it?

ST: Yes, I taught 8th grade and BOF students (summer programs before college) I taught master students for a dozen years now. I’ve taught German student undergrads. I like undergrad, I think it’s an important transitional state. That’s why I like to teach intro classes.

LB: Have you ever taught a class not geared toward writing arts majors? If so, what was it and how did you approach writing for people without the proclivity for it?

ST: Well I teach in the same way that I do in a course like the Writer’s Mind. I mean I’ve taught first year German students culture writing. They don’t teach writing at a college level there. I’ve taught a class kind of like a sociology current events course. In every course you have to build a sense of trust between you and students and students with one another and challenge them in a way they don’t want to be challenged. There’s resistance.

LB: What qualities do you think writing teachers need to have?

ST: [laughs] The same qualities all good teachers need to have. They need to care, be open, and be receptive. They have to understand where students are coming from to see they know their material. They must also be willing to say “I don’t know.” They have to believe in the students and that they can get better. They must help guide them from where they are to where they want to be and make the classroom interesting. And you gotta ultimately, especially at the college level, gotta wanna learn. I mean you have to continually rethink the course, what you’re doing, what the students are doing, and learn from what they have to say. Yeah you gotta be fair, gotta offer good assignments, gotta offer lots of feedback.

LB: Do you have any additional advice?

ST: Yes I’m not sure what you’re gonna do with this but here’s been my strategy: I never suggest to a student that they get a PhD in anything. If the student is interested in that, I’ll be glad to guide them in that or send them to someone who can help. But graduate school is something you spend years getting a degree for and you’ll probably teach for that university for low pay with no benefits. It destroys relationships in part that it takes up so much time and part that if you wanna go to a program you probably have to move and to get a job you probably have to move again. You don’t usually get to choose were you wanna go. The likelihood of a local job isn’t strong.

Grad school is something you must really want to do. You can’t go into in half-heartedly. This is a very broad statistic but just want to give you an idea: 60% of undergrads get a degree. Of those who start getting their PhD, half will complete course requirements and half of that will complete dissertation. They’ve written papers as undergrads but papers start to get book length and are supposed to show you belong in the field. People don’t finish. If they don’t finish, not all of them get jobs. And if they do, not all get tenure. I hear people all the time say, “Oh, I wanna be a professor, you guys have it so good,” and I say, “Go ahead, have fun.”

One of my professors said, “You do so much work to get tenure and then you have to do more work.” There are so many hurdles. You really gotta wanna do it or else it’s really gonna make you miserable.

Additional sources that I searched for included pros and con lists of being a college professor and of being a writer since I couldn’t find one list that combines both. I also searched the rowan Career Management website and found a database that gave pretty much all the information for being a communications professor (For the most part “writing professor” was unsearchable and I had to look at “communications professor.”) The database was the most insightful aside from the interview. It referenced the skills, values, earnings, interests, etc. of the career. The database allows you to log in an take short quizzes that assess you interests and present you with a profile. There is a graph in the database that depicts the interests of the average communications professor and does a side-by-side comparison with my own interest profile. I found that my top two ranking interests (artistic and social) matched the top two ranking interests for the communications professors.

            I also found that the values and skills matched with what Prof Tweedie said in the interview. Some values listed in the databse include helping, listening, and managing time. As was mentioned in the interview, Prof Tweedie said that a teacher must be able to listen to the student and give helpful feedback. Healso mentioned how is biggest struggle is being able tom keep up with all of the work he assigns.

          Several of the pros and cons lists that I found were created by sources that may not be entirely credible but the information provided is mostly self-evident. For example, the pros and cons of being a writer offered by a personal blogger by the name of Aidenofthetower are:

Pros

*A creative outlet

*Satisfaction

*A Challenge

*The Hand of "god"

*Set Your Own Hours



Cons

*Most writers…only continue to write because it is what makes them feel whole inside or they have hope for a better outlook.

*Poor Financial Compensation

*Rejection.  

*Lonely Lifestyle

*Difficulty Selling What You Have Written

            As applied to my interview with Prof Tweedie, these all make sense. He mentions how he gets satisfaction from watching people grow as writers while also observing improvements in his own writing. And from the con list, being a professor involves a lot of writing and moving from place to place which means spending a lot of time alone writing and even possibly ruining relationships.

            I had no idea what I would learn from the project. I assumed I would figure out the necessary steps for becoming a professor and what the pros and cons were. But my interview with Prof Tweedie was more more in depth and more personal than any other sources I used. Even the cons I found didn’t deter me from the idea of being a writing professor as much as Professor Tweedie did. And I’m not even upset that he changed my mind about being a writing professor because I wasn’t terribly dead set on it. While it’s frustrating to be back at square one, I’m glad he influenced my career choice now before I spent all that time and money in grad school. I may still go to grad school I just still haven’t figured out what for.

How to be a College Writing Professor

The most important and influential advice that I received during my research was mentioned by both Prof Tweedie and Dr. Giampalmi: Your heart has to be in it. If you aren’t passionate about writing, don’t strive to be a writer. And if you aren’t looking forward to deadlines, an abundance of writing, and possible destruction of relationships with potential jumping from location to location, don’t look into becoming a college professor.  

Are you skilled at

Helping?

Listening?
Managing Time?

Reading Comprehension?
Reasoning?
Speaking?

Teaching?
Writing and Authoring?

If yes, than you have the skill set required to be a communications professor as listed in the Rowan Career Database.

2-Year College requirements:

1.       Undergrad degree

2.       Masters degree in Writing, English, or Lit.

*Experience as a TA is beneficial for candidates

4-Year College requirements

1.       Undergrad degree

2.       Master’s degree in Writing, English, or Lit.

3.       PhD. (Usually but not always required)

*Experience as a TA is beneficial for candidates

Get published as much as possible!! A notable resume is a must.

I just realized I posted this to my WRT site and not this one :-/

It is strange that Writing Arts is not a more common major. Given all the career options such as journalism, copyediting, advertising, and speech writing to name a few, it seems that the major would be more popular. And considering that writing is a prevalent skill even in careers not related to writing arts, one would think that more colleges would offer it. While there are so many career choices that involve writing there is one that prefaces the other. That is the occupation of a writing professor.

Without writing professors, it would be difficult, if not almost impossible, for writers to really perfect their skills and hone their craft. While Professor Sanford Tweedie, a Writing Arts Professor at Rowan University, claims that the journey toward becoming a writing professor is long and arduous, it also has many benefits.

The RU Career Management Center has an online database for hundreds of professions and what they entail. Unfortunately, because Writing Arts is a rare major, the closest professor information offered is for communications. While this isn’t exactly the same, the information is still fairly relevant.

According to the site there are eight skills necessary for the job. These skills are helping, listening, managing time, reading comprehension, listening, speaking, teaching, writing and authoring. These are all skills that Professor Tweedie lists in his interview.

                A graph under the interest profile tab displays the interests of communications professors and to what degree the level of interest is. For a communication professor, in order from highest to lowest, their interests are artistic, social, investigative, enterprising, convential, and realistic.

                There are also several conditions that apply to being a communications professor. These involve having the authority to make decisions, having and maintaining an E-mail account, having face to face communication, leading others, having good public speak skills, being organized and structured, working with others, and often times working inside.


Outline

I.                    Intro

II.                  Skills/values/interests necessary

A.      Compare CAP center database info with interview

III.                Pros and cons of being a writer/comm professor

A.      Compare with interview

B.      Incorporate US Gov data charts

IV.                What is needed to be a Comm/WA Professor

A.      Interview

B.      How to website

C.      Additional advice from Prof Tweedie

V.                  Conclusion

I dropped the ball this week....I need my day off tomorrow to shake it off and get back in the game. That was pretty cliche. my apologies.

    The chairs are arranged in a sloppy circle all facing inward. Each seat is occupied by a student. Some of them allow their eyes to wander around the room probably singing a little tune in their heads as they pay my no attention. Some are sneaking shots of whisky while others are trapped in a constant loop of sitting up with a quick jerk and hesitantly descending back into slumber. All of them look like me: bedraggled with dark circles painted prominently beneath both eyes, wild manes of hair that haven't felt a comb in days, donning sweat pants and t-shirts that envelope stomachs full of coffee and other caffeinated beverages. I clear my throat.
"Hi. My name's Lacey and I'm a procrastinator."
"Hi Lacey," they mumble back robotically.
    This is the help group that I imagine I would be a part of if it existed here in college. I'm not proud of my procrastinating tendencies. And I certainly hate staying up until the wee hours of the night trying to complete tasks I put off (See this morning's Twitter post: 'Hello again 3am. I didn't miss you #tired) . It's not because I am lazy, but because I get too stressed out by assignments, big and small, that I just keep putting them off to avoid that stress. Now I know what youre thinking: "Don't you realize by now that stress is minimal when the assignment is first given because you have so much time? The apex of stress occurs when the assignment is still not done and due in a few short hours."
    You are correct. That is the truth. it is also true that I have tried to change my ways and not procrastinate. But multiple failures have lead me to continue putting things off to the last minute. Now I may have sold you on the idea that my work is shitty. This however is not true. While I do waste a lot of time I think I work best under stress and pressure and still manage to get everything done pretty well. Some of my best work was procrastinated.
    I'll be honest. I did my interview with Professor Tweedie today even thought we were supposed to have our interviews completed over break. I think I had a better interview this way. Why is that? Because I knew I didn't have any time to go back and ask him more questions so I tailored my questions to receive the best possible answers. If I knew that I had plenty of time, I probably wouldnt have taken the interview so seriously. But I didn't have time to mess around. I had to meet with him, get as much as possible from the interview and go. Because I went in with this mindset, I think I received lots of good feedback. And, I still had the interview completed before class. I have completed each assignment before class and received 2 gold star blog awards. 
    I have already planned out my week for when I will get things done. I don't usually stick to my to-do lists, but since I have made room for the culminating project I will hopefully still do it in that time frame despite getting an extra week to work on it.
    Right now, my biggest obstacle is finding info specifically on writing arts professors. most info I'm finding is for writers and for communications professors.      

Aidenofthetower. "Being a Writer: Pros and Cons." HubPages. 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://aidenofthetower.hubpages.com/hub/Being-a-Writer-Pros-and-Cons>.

The author's credibility may be questionable but her biography says that she is a freelance content writer for various online sites. The information is kind of a no-brainer though so it should be safe to include. Just as I am including the pros and cons of being a college professor in general I think it's important to include the pros and cons of being a writer because maybe someone wants to teach but isn't sure about teaching writing. Weighing the pros and cons can help with that decision.

"Communications Professor." Occupation Database. Focus, 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.focuscareer2.com/LoggedIn/OccupationSearchByName.cfm?Unique={ts%20%272012-03-20%2001:43:54%27}>.

While this site does not list “Writing Professor” as a career option, it does list “Communications Professor”. The site has a menu which is broken down into an overview, skills, values, outlook, earnings, interest profile, working conditions, and areas of study. This site really breaks down the career and gives fairly detailed descriptions about what it entails. Since it is directly linked on the Rowan University Career Management Center website, it is safe to assume that this is a legitimate source.

"How to Become a College Professor." WikiHow. 2 Mar. 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-College-Professor>.

This site offers 9 steps that are necessary for becoming a college professor.
The site also offers other resources such as tips for becoming a professor. There are warnings as well and a list of things you’ll need (A PhD, finances, motivation)
While I think this is a good starting point and the site does offer some seemingly legit info, I don’t think I will be using much of this information. The site is written by non-credible authors. Each heading has an “edit” button next to it which open up another page when clicked. If you have an account with the site, you can log in and edit the page. It says that edits will be reviewed by the original author of the article. However, the original author of the article is some random person that set up an account and wrote the article. At the very top it says 21 people edited the site and a notification popped up on my screen saying to give a “+1” vote to the “voluntary authors” that helped write the article. I If I can find another article that is legitimate and states a lot of similar information, then I will use this to support that site. If not, I won’t use this site.

"Occupational Employment Statistics (National)." Occupational Employment Statistics Query System. US Government, May 2010. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://data.bls.gov/oes/datatype.do>.

This site involves data from the US Department of Labor Services for communications teachers throughout the nation. Because it is a .gov site, it must legitimate information. The data can help support my section on wages and employment rate.

"Occupational Employment Statistics (New Jersey)." Occupational Employment Statistics Query System. US Government, May 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://data.bls.gov/oes/datatype.do>.

Same as above site, except pertaining only to New Jersey.

"Pros and Cons of Becoming a College Professor." Top-Colleges. Top-Colleges LLC, 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.top-colleges.com/blog/2009/10/13/pros-and-cons-of-becoming-a-college-professor/>.

This site offers a few pros and cons regarding becoming a professor which will help in the how-to process of becoming a professor because the first step is deciding "Do I want to be a college professor?"

Tweedie, Sanford. "The Grad School Epiphany That Resulted in Teaching." Personal interview. 19 Mar. 2012.

This interview addresses 10 questions about becoming and being a writing professor. Additional information is given and a personal account of the transformation from student to teacher is examined. Prof Tweedie mentions many aspects of the process that are excluded from generic websites on how to become a writing professor.

    Ok so here is my dilemma: I don't know what my niche is. There are several different genres that I prefer writing and several different careers that I am interested in. So in consideration of my portfolio, would several pieces all of different genres demonstrate my versatility as a writer or would potential employers be put off by it? I mean if I am presenting myself to a genre specific outlet and they only see one piece of mine that suits their style, would they be less likely to consider me than if I had multiple pieces of that style? I can't decide if it is better to represent versatility or focus. I suppose for the time being, I will focus mainly on quality and pick whatever I consider my strongest work despite the genre. Perhaps my strongest work will have a recurring theme that I can build a niche from...
It is actually exciting to go through my old pieces. I took Creative Writing I two years ago and stumbled across a piece I had forgotten about. It’s actually pretty good; I’d like to put it into a larger story or edit it for a flash-fiction submission.

*I have a synthesis essay called “It’s Good to be the King” comparing the theme of kings in Hamlet and MacBeth.

*I have a creative fiction piece called “Freeze you to death” from an assignment where we had to base our writing off of a cliché. (it’s rather depressing though…)

* I have a poem called “Message to my Ex” but the content may be too personal and serious

*I could use ”Playground Games” a piece written in Writer’s Mind for the section on brevity (750 words or less)

*I have a piece called “The Bridge” which is creative nonfiction (my submission for the Tweedie Non-Fiction contest)

*”From Ancient Oration to Cyber Narration: The Development of Children’s Stories Through History” is a research paper I wrote for Intro to WA which I did very well on (40 out of 40)

*”OCD and the Cosmic Influence” A Middle Grade level book I wrote in Writing Children’s stories.

         Ok so my plan was to pick some of my best/favorite work (which I think I did) and of course I ended up picking a variety of genres because I was thinking about how I want to demonstrate versatility. That way, if an employer is checking my portfolio and I’m not sure exactly what they are looking for, I have a better chance of them seeing something they like. That makes sense, right?

          I would also like to put a query letter into my portfolio along with a personal statement for gradschool. I intend on applying for grad school so that would be helpful.

           What I would like to go over in class is how to write a query letter because I don’t know where to even get started with that.

  I had briefly searched grad school options over the summer and was really interested in UofSF for the reasons listed below. Two other programs that interested me in my search last night are Chatham University and NYU. I would like to go to grad school because I feel as though I have explored all of my potential as a writer yet. I think I still have much to learn about the craft. I'm sure that some aspects of writing can't be learned in a classroom but instead only through experience. And of course one of the best ways to become a better writer is simply by writing which can be done outside of the classroom. But while I don't need an MA or MFA to be a successful writer, I really do think that I would benefit from going to grad school.  

University of San Francisco MFA in Writing

Pros-
*offers courses in fiction, poetry, non-fiction
*one-on-one mentoring
*all classes taught by practicing writers
*the overall degree goal is to write a book length work
*location (CA)

Cons-
*specifically noted as evening classes
*If I don’t want to be a novel writer, then I’m wasting time working toward the goal of a book-length piece

Chatham University MFA in Creative Writing

Pros-
*offers courses in poetry, non-fiction, screenwriting, children’s writing, and travel writing
*different from other MFA programs because it focuses on place writing/ writing for an environment
*NOT in new jersey

Cons-
*The specific environmental focus narrows writing opportunities
*appears to be in the middle of nowhere

NYU Writing MA in English, creative writing focus

Pros-
*Location- Greenwich Village NY (a noted neighborhood of distinguished writers)
*all incoming students receive departmental fellowships ranging from half tuition remission to full tuition remission with generous stipends
*Prestigious school

Cons-
*Have to master in English with a concentration in creative writing (no masters in Writing)

         Last week, a very talented friend of mine posted a picture to facebook of her holding a water bottle. The picture was captioned, “coming soon to a sporting goods store near you!” As an art major at Temple University who interns for a graphic design company, she was able to design a waterbottle for children that is going to be available for purchase in a few months. I am so excited for her. Having seen the picture, I want so badly to be able to post a picture of myself holding a book with the caption, “coming soon to a book store near you!” As a writing arts major and art minor I have entertained the idea of writing children’s stories. I have taken the Writing Children’s Stories class with Professor Jahn-clough and really enjoyed it. What’s different about children’s stories is that they are simple and fun. While several try to incorporate a moral, most of them are just fun and whimsical where as young adult and adult novels can be serious and deep. I wanted to interview her for my assignment. Unfortunately, two other girls in the class want to interview her and I have been asked to select someone else. I am not at a loss however, because Professor Tweedie has agreed to be my interviewee.

        While he has not published any children’s stories, he has published before. Also, having been in two of his classes and received much feedback from him, I can confidently say that he knows what he’s talking about. 10 questions I would like to ask him are:

1.       At what moment did you decide to become a writer?

2.       What is your biggest struggle as a writer?

3.       How many times did you have to resubmit before your first piece was accepted for publication?

4.       Does being a writing professor help your writing?

5.       How many pieces have you had published?

6.       What was your proudest moment as a writer?

7.       What genres do you gravitate toward/avoid?

8.       If you could never write again, what would you do instead?

9.       Has your writing ever got you in trouble?

10.   What is the hardest/easiest part of your writing process?

        Hopefully, hearing firsthand from someone with experience in being published will help me better prepare for the process myself.

    Well, I am absolutely exhausted. Last night I was up late working on a

paper. I had difficulty concentration. It was about 1am so I decided to call it a

night and go to sleep. Turns out, I couldn’t concentrate because my blood

sugar was at 45. I ate an apple and piece of candy and went to sleep. I woke

up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat. I knew my blood sugar was

low again but I was too exhausted to move. I feel back asleep. I woke up

again shortly after. It appears that my body’s natural reaction to low blood

sugar is to wake up. That’s a good thing, I suppose though I decided to take

a risk and not get up. I wasn’t wearing my insulin pump, nor did I take an

injection of basal insulin before bed. I knew from experience that it was only

a matter of time before my blood sugar started to rise. Sure enough I woke

up again but I wasn’t sweating anymore. I was freezing cold because I was

soaked. Still I was exhausted to I just fell back asleep. I woke up, shivered,

pulled my body into the fetal position under my blanket and fell back asleep.

I repeated this about 2 more times before I aimlessly swung my hand above

my head in search of the heating console on my wall. My heater kicked on

and I finally slept peacefully. That is, until my alarm started screeching at

7am.

            The day went well afterwards though. I had poptarts for the first time

in 2 years and they were fantastic. I had a conference with Professor Tweedie

and he gave me a lot of positive feedback on the two papers I have handed

in so far. My art class was canceled (at least I hope it was since I didn’t go) so

I had more time to do homework. However, My day has now taken a nose

dive. After being presented with the Prezi, I realized how poorly I did on my

self evaluation. I wrote way more than I should have and I didn’t take it 100%

seriously which I know I will have to when I write a legitimate CV. A lot of my

accomplishments are from high school and they apparently aren’t ones

worth mentioning so now I feel like I have nothing to say on my CV. Also I

spoke negatively of myself in some sections which we aren’t supposed to do.

So, I guess I better get to work on my CV revisions.

            I am considering graduate school. However I don’t know exactly what

I want to study. Also, I’m not sure if I want to go for an MA or an MFA. I

would prefer the MFA because I love workshops. I joined the Avant club and

that’s basically what it is. We read, interpret, and critique the work of our

peers and I really do enjoy doing that. However, I do want to have to option

of going for my PhD. I probably won’t go for it but I like having that option.

Maybe it’s a vanity thing because I like the way “Dr. Bouchard” sounds. I have

considered getting my PhD in folklore. I think that would be fascinating.

Perhaps I will go for my MA because Professor Reynolds said I can go for my

MFA after my MA. I’d like to say I have plenty of time to figure this out but I know that’s not the case.

           

            When writing my CV, I’d like to focus on anything writing related such as classes I have taken in the Writing Arts program. Also I’d like to include my GPA since I am currently Cum Laude status. I’d also like to include my minor (visual arts) because several jobs (advertising, writing children’s stories, etc) involve both writing and images. It would be a good idea for me to include the types of writing I like to do and any honors I’ve gotten as a writer. I should also include that I am a member of Avant andI have had a piece accepted into the magazine after an anonymous submission. If the piece I’m submitting to the Pat B. Tweedie Creative Non-Fiction contest wins, I will of course put that on there too. I would also like to include any skills that pertain to writing or my strengths. I will leave out jokes (such as when I wrote “I have a license to kill” under the “List any special licenses” category. I noticed while I was typing this that I am a fairly fast typer. I may include that too.

Careers in Writing Arts Self-Evaluation

1.       List your personal strengths and weaknesses

    Weaknesses: lazy, poor time management skills, Don’t handle stress well, almost always late.
    Strengths: Responsible, creative, cooperative, not afraid of being the leader

2.       List important or related courses you have taken

Courses in progress:  The Writer’s Mind

                                         Writing, Research, and Technology

                                         Special Topic: Careers in Writing Arts

Completed Courses:  Intro to Writing Arts

                                         Writing Poetry

                                         Intro to Advertising

                                         Writing Children’s Stories

                                         Creative Writing I

3.       What is your major and specialization? What is your overall cumulative GPA? In your major? How many credits have you take in your major?

       My major is Writing Arts with a creative writing concentration. My overall cumulative GPA is a 3.718. I have completed 76 credits and have 16 in progress. Of those 92 total credits, 22 are Writing Arts related.

4.       Do you have a minor or coordinate major? Explain.

    I am a Visual Art minor. This is only my second semester and I am still completing my core classes so I haven’t decided on a concentration yet. However, I do believe that my 3D work is better than my 2D work.

5.       List hobbies, activities, and interests, especially those related to your major.

    I enjoy reading, particularly fictional stories of the romantic comedy and supernatural variety. I also enjoy writing descriptive fiction/non-fiction pieces and poetry. I recently joined the Avant Club (Rowan’s literary magazine) and I absolutely love sitting around with fellow writers reading, interpreting and critiquing our peer’s work. I enjoy doodling, working with clay, painting, book binding, and traveling. I will sit down and play a few notes on my piano or violin when the mood hits me. I don’t know enough knitting or crocheting terms to figure out patterns but I can make pretty nice scarfs and blankets.  I can’t drive in silence so I’m usually blasting music and singing along when I drive. I dance a lot, usually spontaneously in both private and public venues. I consider myself a fruit ninja and a mustache connoisseur. I also enjoy thinking. I think about everything that happened, could happen, should happen, never happened, can’t happen, and so on. I spend a lot of time thinking while I drive, while in the shower, in my bed, anywhere that there is a window I can stare out of, etc. Cheering people up, giving advice, and making people laugh are also activities I enjoy.

6.       List all of the offices you have held in clubs or writing associations

    In high school I was Concert Mistress of the string ensemble, 2nd Chair in the orchestra and pit orchestra and Captain of the drill team. I was in many clubs in high school but did not hold office in them. I am in the Avant Club on campus but I do not hold office.

7.       Do you hold any special licenses?

     I have a license to kill. That’s actually not true. But I’m hopefully going to get my boating license this spring.

8.       List special skills.

    I feel as though I'm good at a lot of things but not really great at anything (except writing (Aside from that last comment, I'm usually a modest person)). I am told I have a calming effect on people. I’m a good listener and I can usually come up with good advice. I can make people laugh. I can make a lot of silly faces and play a few songs upside down on the piano. I can play various instruments and easily pick up a tune. I'm not the greatest artist but I am good at sketching and I can write. I can twirl a fire baton without catching my hair on fire. I can also drive a boat (parking the boat in the slip is another story) and I can dress myself.

9.       List the types of writing you do the most.

    Definitely creative writing. I write a lot of poems and vignettes most of which are non-fiction or loosely based on non-fiction events from my life. I also write a lot of papers and blog posts but that’s because I have to for class. I don’t mind though, it’s good writing practice.

10.    List awards, honors, academic or otherwise.

    At my 8th grade graduation, I was given the writing award. The teachers collaborated on who got what awards and out of approximately 120 kids, my writing stood out the most. In high school, I was in the HTHS Music Honor Society, National Honors Society, and National Latin Honors Society. Three out of four years, I was invited to the HTHS Academic Dinner for students who maintained honor status grades each marking period. At graduation, I received the HTHS Outstanding Student award and performance art scholarship along with the President’s Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence and the personal achievement award. I was offered the opportunity to join the Bantivoglio honor society at Rowan. Rowan granted me the Trustees Scholarship. I recently had a piece accepted into Avant. I was also offered a place in the Sigma Alpha Lambda Honors Society for Rowan University.

11.   List special programs in which you have participated.

    I participated in my high school’s madrigals, sweet adelines, contemporary, chamber, and concert choirs, string ensemble, pit orchestra, orchestra, stage crew, musical, one acts, drill team, blood drive committee, interact club, and crew team. I was a girl scout for 8 years. In college, I joined the women’s ultimate Frisbee team for one semester and now I am part of the Avant Club.  

12.   List Charity Work.

    I was a girl scout for about 8 years. I participated in Relay for Life (an overnight camp-out/walk for cancer awareness) 5 years in a row and was part of my school's Interact Club. In Interact, we held fundraisers such as Pedal for Progress where we collected, disassembled, and shipped bikes to third world countries. We also had fundraisers such as Pennies for Patients for leukemia victims. Every Tuesday, the club went to Fellowship House in Camden to tutor children grades K-5. I also was a member of the Blood Drive committee. I’ve donated platelets once and blood three times but had to stop due to diabetes and a low platelet count. The summer before ninth grade, I spent an afternoon at a rec center for the physically handicapped and was a ball girl for two women playing tennis in wheelchairs. We had an Empty Bowls fundraiser twice while I was in high school as well. Empty Bowls in an event where students, faculty and community members gathered in the art room to craft bowls out of clay. Then the students, faculty and community members glazed the bowls. The art teacher fired them and then they were sold at a big dinner in the cafeteria where you buy a ticket for 5 dollars and with that you can pick any bowl that you like and get unlimited food. Food was donated by local businesses and residents. Any left over food at the end of the night was donated to the local soup kitchen and all proceeds from the dinner was given to the New Jersey Food Bank. As both an art student and a member of the National Honor Society, I was a very involved in the project.

13.   List any scholarships which you have received

    I received the Allen William Coutinho Memorial Scholarship (for performing arts),
Outstanding Student Award
Rowan University Trustees Scholarship
Rowan University Grant

14.   List any key projects and your role in them

    For the Empty Bowls Soup Project as mentioned above, I made and glazed bowls in my art class. I continued to make bowls during my study hall period and came back on the weekend when we invited community members to come help out since they couldn't come during the school day. I cranked out about 4-5 bowls on days when I had both art and study hall. In total I believe we had approx. 750 bowls for the event. I donated a large pot of soup. The National Honors Society used this event as their community service requirement so at the event I helped serve the soup and keep the tables clean. I also called out the ticket numbers during our raffle. At the end of the night, I helped clean everything up.


15.   List Any jobs you have had

    Waitress at Crystal Lake Diner February 2008-October 2008, Summer 2009
Took orders, served food, held conversations with customers, helped seat and bus tables
    Hostess at Outback Steakhouse December 2009-present, promoted to Takeaway Server November 2010, promoted to Server November 2011.
Take orders, box food, customer service/hospitality, answer phones, seat tables, clean the bathroom, keep the kitchen stocked, run out to the store if necessary.

16.   Describe the kinds of employment you seek

a.       A creative job where I don’t have to do a lot of research and data analysis
b.      A job with security and longevity
c.       A job that involves traveling

17.   List three people who can recommend you and how you have been associated with them.

a.       Martin Bouchard, my father
b.      Jonathan Pena, my sister’s fiancé
c.       Ray (last name is unknown), my friend and former boss  

    You are in a room. It is fairly small though the vaulted ceiling gives the illusion of space. The walls are lined with bookshelves and painted a deep, cherry red. A clicking noise accompanies each step you take as you move across the hardwood floor. A smoky scent hangs in the room even though the intimate glow of the fireplace perished late last evening. Flecks of dust are framed by light spilling in through a window. Beneath the window is a desk. As you approach the desk, the clicking becomes muffled by an antique Persian rug. On the desk is a leather bound journal. It is clear that the journal has been used. The corners bend upward, the cover has scratches. The binding is slowly but surely unwinding itself in a dance of deterioration. Loose papers have been folded and shoved inside. They stick out precariously as if trying to escape from their prison of pages.

    Despite its poor appearance, it is a treasure. Inside, you have everything your heart ever cried for, everything that made you laugh out loud while sitting alone in a public place, everything that you were, are, and want to be. This is your journal. This is you. Others may not always appreciate your ideas. Some will praise them. But then there are those people, out for blood, out to destroy everything you believe in. They are the ones who only know how to say “No”. But you don’t listen. You know, you believe, that somewhere in this ephemeral world there is a “yes”. And that is what keeps you going. That is what keeps you trying. What others don’t understand is that writing isn’t just a hobby for writers. Writing is a part of who we are, it is as visceral as our hearts which support our choice to be writers. We write not because we want to but because we need to.






    I originally started this blog describing what I thought of when I think about a writer’s den. However, Instead of saying there is a typewriter on the desk like I was originally going to, I said journal. I made this switch because I actually carry a journal around. I would carry a typewriter but, well, that would be ridiculous.

    As the description unfolded, my ideas began focusing more on writing itself than on my grandiose mental images of a writer’s den. The den I imagine is much like the cabin that Thomas Turner mentions in his article. It is ideal, but it is not realistic. We both like to pretend that writers live this desirable lifestyle and we both recognize that this actually isn’t the case. And we both have accepted the fact that we have to write. We did not choose it. It chose us.

    I suppose my niche is creative writing. I love descriptions. I actually asked for a thesaurus and a rhyming dictionary for Christmas one year. I’m not sure what else I would write about. If I had to make a list of 5 facts about myself I’d say:

1.       I’m falling apart at the tender age of 21

2.       I live with teachers

3.       My brilliant boyfriend is a physics and economics double major

4.       I have a weird taste in music

5.       I have a soft spot for the occult, the paranormal, the whimsical, and the downright uncanny

                My eyesight started going when I was about 6. At 15 I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I was medicated for 4 years until I met my boyfriend who coached me through my maelstrom of emotions and helped me take control of my feelings. I still have anxiety attacks at times but I no longer need the medication. At 18 I was diagnosed with Ventricular Tachycardia which meant getting a implanted defibrillator device. A month later, I developed type one diabetes. At 21, I’ve been told that I need my wisdom teeth removed and I found out today that I have a slight case of Raynaud’s disease. I’m also at risk for hyperthyroidism. My kidneys are pretty weak from the diabetes. Therefore I know a lot about health issues. The funny thing is, I’m an organ donor.

                My Dad teaches TV Productions and Radio Broadcasting to high schoolers while my mom teaches high school English. My sister is an elementary school teacher. Many people think I will catch the teaching bug. I considered it, but I once almost shook a girl I was tutoring because she just did not understand algebra. I assume shaking children is unprofessional and frowned upon in most educational establishments. Anything I need to know about TVP, English, school children, and pedagogy I can learn from them.

                My boyfriend really is brilliant. He got 5’s on 8 out of 9 AP exams. He wrote a paper on thermodynamics when we was 17 that got published by Jefferson University. Its sick how many questions he can get right when we watch Jeopardy. Anything I need to know, I can go to him for.

                I have a weird taste in music. It is common to hear Eric Clapton, The Grateful Dead, The Decemberists, Back Street Boys, Kanye, and Beethoven on my iPod. I also have showtunes and foreign music (French, Japanese, Russian, Romainian, Serbian, etc.) I’ll listen to anything. Also, having grown up playing the piano, singing in 6 different choirs, playing in my high school’s string ensemble as concert mistress, the orchestra, and the pit orchestra, I know a thing or two about music. I think it would be fun to write lyrics and jingles. I’d even love to write scores and soundtracks if I had a better background in music theory.

                Finally, I love abnormal things. Ghosts, vampires, fairies, folklore, mythology, origins and entomology, paganism, astrology, parapsychology, strange disorders, anything that strays from the norm. I love learning about these things and would be more than happy to research and write about them.

                Where will I be in 5-10 years? Who the hell knows. Writing lyrics for an indie film with it's own original soundtrack may be fun. And writing the scripts for a sitcom would be cool too (that's where my Dad sees me in 5 years.) As a disney fan I would of course love to write the screenplay for a new movie. And I wouldn't mind writing for a magazine where I get to give my opinions. Whatever it is, I better not be in south jersey doing it. I want to travel. And I want to do it as soon as possible.

This was a long blog post. Whoops. Thanks for reading.