English Major Opportunities // New Semester, New You? Dates to Remember // English Aggies in Law

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1 February 2017 The The newsletter for Texas A&M s Undergrads. featuring: Major Opportunities // New Semester, New You? Dates to Remember // s in Law 1

2 The Mark Your Calendar 2.6 Explorations Creative Work Deadline // February 6th Explorations allows undergraduates to publish both creative and scholarly work. Creative works can be photographs, short stories, performances, paintings, audios, videos, etc. with a sidebar of at least 500 words. Visit tamu.edu/ugr/explorations/submissions for more info! 2.7 STAND Up Workshop // February 7th A free workshop to teach students helpful ways to relate to those who have been involved in sexual assault or a similar traumatic event. Be prepared to learn more about sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and impacts of trauma on the human brain. 2.8 Liberal Arts Career Fair // February 8th Get your resumes ready for this semesters career fair! From 10 AM to 3 PM at The Association of Former Students you ll have the oppourtinity to introduce yourself with employers. Want some career fair advice? Check out The blog (englishaggie. blogspot.com) for tips! 2.10 Creative Writing Contest Deadline // February10th Presented by the department and funded by TAMU libraries, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Creative Writing Contest deadline is Friday, Feb. 10th. Submit up to 3,000 words and potentially win cash prizes. You can submit your story on the department website Liberal Arts Study Abroad Fair // February 22nd If you have questions about studying abroad, this is the place to go! Liberal Arts is recruiting students to study abroad in Seville, Sydney, and China for Fall Head to the MSC 2406AB from 11 AM to 3 PM if you re interested. Interview Palooza // February 22nd Join us in the MSC 2404 from 10 AM to 2 PM to test your interview skills! Professionals will be there to give you feedback and prepare you for success. 2

3 Creative Writing Techniques Club The Do you like writing? Need help improving your writing? Do you enjoy poetry? Screen writing? Fiction? We are looking for all types of writers! Come join us and be a part of a community just like you. With discussions and workshops you can improve your writing and have an active audience to share your work with! Meetings are held on Tuesdays at 7pm in LAAH 326. Hope to see you there! For more information about meetings or membership, contact mikaylaandreade@tamu.edu. Share your story with us! The Department needs you! We are creating a video to show prospective students what it s like to study at Texas A&M! If you re not afraid of being in front of a camera, we want to hear what you love about being an major! Contact kirbiek3@tamu.edu if you re interested in being featured in the video! 3

4 The s in Law Prepare yourself for the ultimate Career Fair success story. After meeting her current manager at the Career Fair, Stephani Whisenant has accepted a full-time position as a paralegal for Daniel Stark, a local law firm. Between working with clients and other law firms, Stephani says that each day at work is different from the last. While attending A&M, what did you plan to do with your degree? I was pretty open with what I wanted to do. I had considered teaching, law school, and journalism among many other things. That is what drew me to the program. I knew that having an degree would open me up to many different career options because it is so versatile. Any company, firm, hospital, etc. needs people who can write well and represent the company well with their words, so even though I have never been 100% sure of what I wanted to do, I knew my degree would keep my options open. 4 Continued on page 5.

5 Continued from page 4. The What is the most valuable skill you have gained from your work thus far? One of our philosophies at Daniel Stark is Do It All, Do It Right, Do it Now which means exactly what it sounds like. Do everything that needs to be done, give 110% of your effort while doing it, and don t put it off until tomorrow, get it done now. Daniel Stark has taught me the value in doing something correctly the first time. Not only does it exude professionalism, but it makes your life easier in the long run. This philosophy is something that I can use in all aspects of my life, not just in the office. In what ways did your degree prepare you for postcollege life/careers? My degree, like many others, had me balancing a large workload, but what makes an major so different from, say, an engineering major, is the amount that we are required to read. I have learned how to read large volumes of material critically and quickly. This has helped me where I am now because I am able to take a document that is very long, or one that I may not be able to completely understand due to certain legal terms, and still be able to get the general idea of what it is saying. I am able to know where my attention needs to be focused from there. It seems like it would be an easy thing to do, but when you have a large document in front of you with words that you aren t familiar with, it can get overwhelming. What is the most difficult aspect of your job? Right now I am working a 32-hour work week while also attending school until I graduate in May. Balancing a work/school life is more than a full time job, but what I do with Daniel Stark thankfully allows me to balance this pretty well. However, it s easy for me to get caught up in something I m doing at work only to realize it s time to go to class and I still have much more that I want to get done. It s a there aren t enough hours in the day situation, as much as I d love to put in a full 40 hours a week, I have at least 2 hours of homework a day that also needs to get done. Even though this can be frustrating and difficult, it forces me to prioritize my workload, which is only going to help me in the future. It has also allowed me to slowly get used to the working world, while still plunging into a field I didn t have a lot of knowledge about. What advice would you give graduating s who wish to find a job in your field? Keep your mind open. When I met one of our executives, Bill, at the Liberal Arts Career Fair, I saw the word law firm and thought, I know nothing about law, I can t work here, and almost walked past their table. If I had not stopped to speak with him I wouldn t be here, and that thought makes me so thankful that I did something that wasn t in my comfort zone. When you allow yourself flexibility in what you re doing, you are allowing yourself to grow in ways you may have never considered. My firm stresses the importance of having people who have their own unique strengths, so if you are confident in what you are good at, and are willing to strengthen the other areas of your life, you re putting yourself at an advantage. 5

6 The New Semester, New You? With the start of every new semester comes an opportunity to make it better than the previous one. Whether you re concerned with better grades or trying new things, here s a list of resolutions to consider: Procrastinate Less Procrastination is the cause of tiring all-nighters and high stress levels. Try getting ahead early this semester! The good news is that procrastination is controllable. The bad news is that it s easier said than done to actually control it. But, you might surprise yourself! Making new semester resolutions can help you stay on top of things and save you from a panic attack later down the road. Say Yes to Fun School is tough and can be exhausting. This semester, make sure to make time for a break every now and then. Adventure to Bryan s First Friday or take a road trip to the beach one weekend (Galveston is only 2.5 hours away!). Whatever you choose, just make sure to de-stress every once in a while. Get Involved The beginning of each semester is the perfect time to apply to new organizations or jobs. Attend the MSC Open House to look for groups that might be of interest to you! From Outdoors to The Eckleburg Project, there are plenty of options. It s never too late to try something new! Call Home Every now and then it s great to hear some encouraging words from your friends and family back home. Once the semester gets rolling it s easy to forget to keep in touch. Make an effort to call home more often; your parents will thank you! 6

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8 The Have questions about studying abroad? Not sure where to start? Visit a Global Ambassador Study Abroad Peer Mentors for Liberal Arts Majors Spring 2017 walk-in hours: Monday, 1:00 3:00 pm Wednesday, 3:00 pm 5:00 pm Undergraduate Programs Office, Richard Coke 202 globalambassador@libarts.tamu.edu Wishing you had more opportunities to use those excellent essays, creative fiction, and poetry that are languishing on your hard drive or in the back of your mind? Like Texas A&M Undergraduates on Facebook or The on Twitter to stay informed about contests, magazines, and journals to which you can submit your work. your work to Stories@gmail. com and you could end up published in The! Thanks & Gig Em This publication is brought to you by: Texas A&M Department of Texas A&M Undergrad-office@tamuenglish.org Located at: Texas A&M University LAAH 352 College Station, TX Hours of Operation: Monday - Friday 8 AM - 12 PM 1 PM - 5 PM Editor: Kirbie Koonse 18 8