Profile: Lucas Ruud ‘24
Lucas Ruud ‘24 has had an impressive undergraduate career. He recently graduated with a double major in English and journalism and a certificate in Professional Writing and Technical Communication. On top of that, Lucas also completed a creative writing Honors Thesis, “Sam and Sarah/Nu Couché,” as part of Professor John Hennessy's “Foundations and Departures in Creative Writing: Fiction, Poetry and Literary Nonfiction” thesis seminar.
Lucas has also been greatly involved in the UMass Amherst campus community; he served on the staff of the Massachusetts Daily Collegian for multiple years and spent the last year as Editor-in-Chief.
Alongside these academic achievements, Lucas held two technical writing internships while an undergrad: one with the UMass Amherst Center for Data Science out of the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences and the other with the UMass Cybersecurity Institute.
Have you always been interested in writing? If not, what led you to this interest?
For me, writing is just what I do. I've always been a reader, and at some point I thought to myself, "I wonder if I could do this?" As it turns out, I could!
What were some of your favorite classes at UMass?
My favorite courses have been any creative writing course taught by John Hennessey, Interactive Fiction with Daniel Sack, and Bible Myth, Literature, and Society with David Toomey.
What projects — academic, personal, or for the Daily Collegian — are you most proud of?
I'm incredibly proud of all of the Collegian writers, editors, and photographers that I worked with during our coverage of the protests and police response on May 7. When I was covering the faculty meeting on May 21 in which faculty voted no confidence in Chancellor Reyes, our coverage was cited numerous times and it became clear that we were the primary source of verified information about the protest. In moments where those in power make decisions that endanger our community, the Collegian ensures that the impact of those decisions is accurately contextualized.
Lucas even appeared on New England Public Media’s The Rundown with Carrie Saldo to discuss the protests and university response.
You certainly accomplished a lot as a student. Do you have any advice for students to get the most out of their undergraduate experience?
Don't overthink it. You're here to learn, be creative, and have fun. Find a way to support yourself, find a way to express yourself, and find a way to release the stress of continuously supporting and expressing yourself.
What’s next for you?
I'll be working as a UX Writer for Archer, a cybersecurity risk management company. I'm incredibly grateful for the PWTC program in the English Department, in which I learned everything I needed to learn in five courses to get this job. I got all of my internships and this job directly through the program and cannot recommend it highly enough.