By Colleen Rockwell ‘18
Staff Writer
On Wednesday October 25, 2017, Dr. Steven Scherwatzky, who is the head of the English Department at Merrimack, hosted the annual English Career Night for present English majors and alumni at the Merrimack Club. This event started about 10 to 15 years ago to show English majors where their degree can take them once they graduate college.
Each year, there is a new panel of former English majors who discuss their careers and how their skills they have learned in their English classes help them with their job. This year’s panelists were Amy Tremblay ’05, who is a Marketing Manager for Investor Communications at HarbourVest Private Equity, Jennifer Hanselman ’13, who is a Data Associate at Amazon, Megan Hathaway ’13, who is a Professional Advisor Relations Manager at The Boston Foundation, and Gregory Lingley ’15, who is an English Teacher and Assistant Athletic Director at Amesbury High School.
Teaching is not the only career English majors can go into, and many people automatically think that they go into that career, and it can be a bit dishearten for English majors. Senior Bridget Kennedy said, “it’s a valuable resource especially for underclassmen trying to figure out what they want to do after college because they get to see different paths people have and see positive results.”
This event helps inspire students who do not know what to do with their degree or this event can help solidify what a student would like to do once they leave Merrimack, and it is also very insightful when it comes time to apply for job positions. Dr. Scherwatzy said, “You don’t want to wait for a management position, you want to get your foot in the door for a position you do want.”
Many recent college graduates think that they will get a management position once they graduate. However, that rarely happens because college grads do not have the experience yet even though they may have had internships; they still have to work their way up to get a position they really want.
Not having a job right out of college is okay. Hanselman said she worked at Stop and Shop in the produce section and a cookie factory. She also mentioned how she applied for her position at Amazon twice before getting it the second time. For Tremblay, it took her twelve years for her to find the job she wanted to do.
English Career Night is not just a night for students to learn about former Merrimack English major’s careers. It is a night to hang out with professors, and see old faces. Senior Rachel MacKelcan said “it was a great chance to get to know successful English majors from Merrimack and hangout with my professors more.”
Anyone who majors in English has nothing to worry about career wise as the careers that the panelists have chosen range from marketing to technology. They have a wide variety of options and it is important to find the right position that they enjoy whether it takes one month or 10 years and English Career Night is aimed to help students with this process.
