ALUMNI PROFILES:

Wendy Mackall (English Writing, 1992)

Adam Matcho (English Writing, 2006)

Dawn Nicholson (English Literature, 2005)

Brian K. Root (English Writing, 2004)

Greetings to everyone at UPG!

My name is Dawn Nicholson (English Literature, 2005), and I spent five very active years at Pitt-Greensburg pursuing my undergraduate degree. My love of the written word led me to declare English Literature as my primary major. While literature remained my passion, I also delved into other interesting majors such as Political Science, Administration of Justice and the ever-popular Humanities concentration.

Since my graduation in the spring of 2005, I have been working for the Municipality of Norristown Planning Department in Norristown, PA as an urban planner (seemingly a far cry from my undergraduate studies), a very interesting line of work for anyone who enjoys creative expression. As the nexus of community and economic development for the town, the Planning Department manages nearly 14 million dollars in federal, state and local grant monies, as well as subdivision/land development projects and zoning, all of which keeps our office incredibly busy.

The analytical ability that you will cultivate as an English Literature major will be applicable regardless of the occupation that you seek in the future. The ability to read, write and think critically is seen as a valuable commodity by employers across the board.

I encourage you to always push yourself beyond what you believe are your capabilities. College may be the last true bastion of free thought. What better place to challenge yourself? Take chances, seize opportunities, and go after that dreaded internship that you’ve been avoiding, especially if it doesn’t pay!

My figurative door is always open. Questions, comments, rants and general complaints of college life are most welcome and encouraged.

As always,

Dawn Nicholson
Senior Planner
Municipality of Norristown
235 E Airy Street
Norristown, PA 19401
Phone: 610-270-2947
Email: dnicholson@norristown.org


My name is Wendy Mackall (English Writing, 1992). I work in the media relations and community affairs department at UPG. Before that, I was a copy editor for two daily newspapers--The Dominion Post in Morgantown , W.Va. , and the Tribune-Review, in Greensburg -- for 12 years.

I think the biggest helps to me in terms of my UPG education were an intro to journalism class, taught by Gary Lutz back in the day, and the UPG student newspaper, which is even more active today in terms of really "covering" the campus than it was then. So I would suggest participating in that, for sure.

Advice for current majors? Do as many internships as you can. If you can work at a weekly or daily newspaper, or with a public relations firm, or for a nonprofit that could certainly use the PR help, do it. Work there in the summer and over breaks. The Trib, for example, has hired many people over the years who started as interns. Be tenacious. Volunteer for projects. Try anything. Ask questions. Realize that the hours won't always be ideal, and don't complain about them. Work HARD. I have found that a good work ethic will get you noticed a lot more than you might think.

Wendy Mackall
Director of Media Relations and Community Affairs
University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg
Phone :  724-836-7741
E-mail: mackall@pitt.edu

Adam Matcho (English Writing, 2006) reports on his new position as columnist for The New Yinzer.
Hi All,

Just wanted to pass along the link to this place I'm doing a column for. Some would say sending my nowhere-near-perfect true story to a bunch of academics is not wise. But you all have, in different ways, encouraged me to do this kind of thing on campus (or your email just got mixed-up with these other swell people), so the least I could do is say I'm still doing it. So please, read, enjoy and if you feel inclined to, send the bastards a letter saying they need to pay me once in a while.

Cheers,
Adam

Brian K. Root, UPG's Resident Director, writes:
I graduated from UPG with an English Writing degree in 2004. Afterwards, I spent a little over a year writing for a small newspaper in Greenville, PA, called The Record-Argus. I was fortunate to be a jack-of-all-trades at the time, writing front-page news, features, columns, high school sports, and even obituaries… plus I played photographer on numerous occasions. Eventually I gave up this job and committed myself full-time to finishing my master's degree in Student Affairs in Higher Education at IUP. I earned that degree in May 2006. Shortly after, I was hired back here at UPG in the Office of Housing & Residence Life as a Resident Director with a collateral assignment in Career Services.

My passion for working with college students is just as deep as my passion for writing. At this point in my career, I'm still seeking for a decent outlet for my writing. I find pleasure in the little opportunities to showcase my writing, such as drafting press releases, creating departmental newsletters and public relations materials, and even helping students review their own cover letters and resumes.

One of the things I'm still learning today is that you don't necessarily have to be writing books or columns for a newspaper to showcase your art of writing. That's the greatest thing about being an "expert" on writing. I'm constantly finding new ways to implement my skills as a writer into my daily routine. My advice to current writing majors is this – don't get frustrated if you don't find the perfect job as a writer after graduating. Instead, focus on how to use your writing skills doing another job that you enjoy.

Although I'm not in the writing profession at the moment, I still have a long-term goal of having a book published someday. My mother reminds me of this every now and then.

Brian K. Root '04
Resident Director
Office of Housing & Residence Life
University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg
Office: 724.836.7606
Fax: 724.836.7134

If you were once a student in our department, please write to us and keep us posted on your life, or consider coming back to UPG for a visit! If you have any words of wisdom to share with our students, we'd love to post them here. Please send your profile for this alumni page to Elisa Beshero-Bondar, ebb8@pitt.edu .