“A misconception about majoring in English is that it doesn’t clearly lead to a job, like a Nursing or Accounting major,” said Dr. Laura Hakala, the Sigma Tau Delta Faculty sponsor. The goal of the speaker series was to show students, through in person speaking engagements, “that majoring in English will not prevent students from finding a successful and rewarding job.”
In February, Jordan Williams, a UNCP alum and former Sigma Tau Delta member with a BA in English, spoke about his experience teaching 7th and 8th grade Language Arts at Latta Middle School in Latta, South Carolina. Faculty were also in attendance for this speaking event, and an enthusiastic discussion about the challenges faced by educators across disciplines was enjoyed by all.
Ari Berntsen, another UNCP alum and former Sigma Tau Delta member, spoke in March about her experience in graduate school at North Carolina State University. Currently enrolled in a technical writing program, Ari spoke of her internships and offered excellent career advice to students. Many students from the Professional Writing track were in attendance, and Ari recommended that students begin researching internships, workshop their resumes, and update their LinkedIn profiles.
The last speaking event of the semester took place in April and hosted Susannah Skiver Barton, a UNC Chapel Hill graduate, who spoke about her experience as a freelance journalist. Susannah spoke about how she started her journalism career, developed a niche area of writing that specializes in whiskey and spirits, and how she uses social media in her job.
Sigma Tau Delta, the English honors society, looks forward to hosting future speaking events to support English majors and prospective English majors as they plan for their futures. “One of the benefits of majoring in English,” as Dr. Hakala said, “is the many career paths that are possible!”