Meeting Our Needs as English Majors and Minors
- published: 2019/01/28
- contact: Justin Garrison - English
- search keywords:
- English Major
- Information
- Careers in Humanities
Milo Bail Student Center – On Friday January fourteenth, staff and students gathered before an icy drizzle to discuss the importance of English studies in their future. To begin the meeting, prospective and current English majors and minors were encouraged to discuss why they were interested in the field. Some sought English as a compliment to their current major, an effort complimented by the 18 credit hours required for a minor in English. Others looked toward English as the foundation of their future careers. Hopeful lawyers, writers, and educators shared their experiences analyzing, presenting, and questioning in their time with the rigorous course work offered by the English Department.
Dr. Tracy Bridgeford, chair of the English department, followed up introductions with a speech on the virtue of English skills in the modern age. She explained how English majors effectively apply critical thinking skills. Her best example of this was when she questioned STEM’s dominant presence in higher education. Dr. Bridgeford stressed that the importance of STEM work is only multiplied by the ability to ask how the work fits into a broader context. The tools and abilities necessary to assess the broader context are all skills honed by English studies. No matter what job field a person may end up in, Dr. Bridgeford stressed that the ability to “find your own voice and shape that into what you want to say” will make certain that your ideas are heard as they were meant to be. Dr. Bridgeford ended her speech with a quote from writer George Orwell, “If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them.”
In addition, Dr. Bridgeford emphasized how the English department utilizes scholarships, internships, and career development classes to keep students competitive. Scholarships such as the John J. McKenna and the Dr. Susan Naramore Maher Scholarship reward exemplary student effort. English Internships provide opportunities for students to apply their English skills to real world careers and gain experience with groups such as Omaha Magazine and Nebraska Legal Aid. The department also offers an English career preparation course focused on helping students understand and market their skills in their future careers. Although not being required, students are encouraged to present their hard work at all manner of conferences to capture the experiences, which will benefit them in their future careers.
The presentation portion of the event completed with Sigma Tau Delta representatives Jo Pepin and Leslie Lopez explaining how their organization supports English students and UNO writers overall. The organization isn’t a sorority of fraternity, but rather an English Honor Society open to students who have an interest in English beyond required coursework, maintain a 3.3 or higher GPA, and pay a onetime fee of 40$. The group meets twice a month on Fridays and gives students a place to workshop, share, and find community among similarly driven individuals. As Jo Pepin intimated, it is a place to “take ownership of yourself” and shake off the solitary nature that plagues many writers.