Where are you now? What are you doing, and what does your work involve?

I’m currently participating in a year of service with SERVE Philadelphia, an AmeriCorps Program. I’m working on a project called A Running Start, which is an early learning initiative for the City of Philadelphia. My job is to help increase awareness and participation in early-childhood education programs among low-income and immigrant families in Philadelphia. This work involves both community engagement and immigration and education policy, so I get to do research, and interact with lots of people, combining two of my main interests.

How have you drawn on your experience in the Writing Center since graduating?

Working in the Writing Center helped me realize how much I value interacting with others and working collaboratively to solve problems, so my experience in the Writing Center really informed the types of jobs I looked at. I gained the ability to think quickly, prioritize issues, and develop a plan from the Writing Center, and this has been especially useful in working on a project that involves a number of people with unique concerns and goals. My time in the Writing Center also made me a much better listener and communicator, and these skills are essential to work that has a major impact on community members, especially vulnerable ones. How did you come to your current position?

What have you done since graduating?

This is my first job since graduating! I found the program through the Non-Profit and Public Service Career Fair at Bryn Mawr, which highlighted Philadelphia-area organizations doing public service work. What role does writing have in your daily life and work? I find myself writing every day, whether I’m writing emails, drafting reports, compiling research, or building newsletters and fliers to send out. Writing is a hugely important part of my work, and it’s also something I enjoy and value deeply, so I hope to continue finding ways to write as I move on to new work in the future. I’m also interested in doing more creative writing, writing for fun and for myself, so I’m hoping to take a class or join a writing group in my free time.

What’s something you’ve learned about writing that you’d like to share with Haverford writers?

I think writing is a lot more open to experimentation than we sometimes think. Writing in an academic setting can lead people to feel like there is one specific type of writing that is “good”, and if they don’t follow that mold, they aren’t a good writer. Yet there are so many ways to write and approaches to writing, both in general and in academic papers, and it’s important to be open and explore these possibilities. The biggest leap I made in my own writing was when I realized and decided that I didn’t have to do things one certain way--that I could experiment, and try new things. Being confident in your own choices, and your ability to decide what will work or not, is really freeing, and I think it makes us all better writers.