Class of 2018, BFA in Creative Writing, BA in Spanish

What was your favorite part of studying Creative Writing at UE?

I loved the community I could lean on. Many times I would get stuck or unmotivated when writing, but my peers around me were always quick to help spark ideas or work through a plot.

What did you experience in UE's CRW department that feels special/unique to our program?

Everybody cares about your success and wants to help you do well. Workshop critique for my pieces was always said with the intention of helping. The classroom environment is so nurturing.

Favorite class and why?

I absolutely loved Creative Nonfiction. I had grown up my whole life thinking that nonfiction was the “boring” kind of writing, the stuff of history and biographies. I couldn't have been more wrong. Because of this class, I wrote a CNF piece that got published in the literary magazine Tributaries, and it also opened the door for me to write personal essays.

What are you doing for work now?

After graduation I joined a program called Orr Fellowship, an organization dedicated to developing the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs. Through Orr I work as a project manager at a company called DuraMark Technologies in Indianapolis. I absolutely love my job and how it challenges me to use my writing and communication skills on a daily basis. Apart from my full-time job, I am also on the marketing team for Orr where I help write content for our website and publish pieces on the blog. In the evenings, I participate in business workshops and speaker series facilitated by the Fellowship. It's been a great way to jumpstart my career and make me try new things I wouldn't have otherwise had the opportunity to do.

Since I am on the marketing team for Orr, I proposed the idea to start a podcast (Orr Else), where I interview current fellows like me, alumni who have graduated the program and are doing cool things. I learned how to podcast in Writing for Digital Media! I also interview business leaders and entrepreneurs in the Indianapolis area. I love sitting down with people I don't know, listening to them tell their story, and then splicing and scripting the interview to create a fun podcast. It's an area of writing I never expected myself to be in, but I absolutely love it!

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