Profiles
Thomas MacAlpine M.Ed. '03
"In terms of a career path, the best advice I can give is just to always be open. Don’t have the blinders on; you just never know where your education can take you."
Rachel Halpern '14
"For English majors, I would say trust yourself … Focus on the skills and the passions that can come out of you from taking a varied course load." Rachel Halpern earned a B.A. in English from UMass in 2014. She now works at Facebook as a content strategist.
Gwendolyn Gustavson '09
"Go live in the real world. Seriously. It will give you a tremendous sense of perspective, and help you both survive law school and perform better as an attorney. Lawyers are called “counselor” for a reason: we are supposed to counsel our clients. To do that, you need empathy, understanding, and an ability to see the big picture."
Rebecca Tarr Thomas '10
"The joke about being an English major ending up as a well-spoken homeless person is stupid. There are so many opportunities available to people with the ability to communicate clearly: it’s a rarer skill than you may imagine, and remarkably valuable in many fields. But you need to go looking for it; you have to start by giving yourselves the marketable skills to succeed."
Maria Pedone '12
"[B]eing an English major prepared me to deal with so many different kinds of people and perspectives. Through the classes I took, I was exposed to unique voices that I never would have encountered otherwise. Since I am dealing with clients everyday that have a unique and specific brand they want to put out into the world, I am able to morph my voice to each specific client."
Christopher Pitt '16
"My experience as an English major was pretty incredible. I managed to experience some of the greatest moments of English appreciation that I had ever known. ... [The English Society] hosted a Beowulf night at the Renaissance center. It was exciting to see all of these people celebrating this timeless story and the context in which it existed. There were foot races and spear throwing, and we ate suckling pig seated at a long table."
Jung Yun '07 MFA
"I applied to the MFA program because I wanted to write, but like many people, I wasn’t getting anywhere on my own. Going back to graduate school for the second time in a completely different discipline was a major decision, but one that felt necessary in order to bring my desire to write into balance with my desire to help others."
