Anyas Kellermann is a freelance writer, copyeditor, & layout designer. She graduated with a BA in English with a concentration in Professional Writing, Rhetoric, & Technology and a BA in Psychology in 2021.

“Attend a career fair!” is advice I have received from a variety of sources over the course of my college career. From business savvy family members to supportive higher education staff, the reasoning behind the advice was just as varied. Some supported attending to see what kinds of employers and types of positions were open. Others declared it an important networking opportunity. 

 Navigating the job market is challenging. So, I called out to the experts I knew for advice and potential opportunities. Reconnecting with my professors and other members in the English department that left an impact on me not only boosted my confidence in my skills and job prospects, but informed me about the career week’s occurrence.

 At first, that same dread entered me. As an alum, would it be out of turn for me to attend events meant for current students? It had already felt like an overextension to ask about potential opportunities, as well as for references. Reminding myself that USF dedicates an entire department to alumni resources and that an invitation came from a staff member was an important, necessary step for me to pursue attending. I am thankful to remember just how useful and supportive USF’s staff and resources are.

 While some may have viewed the majority of the career week’s events being digital as a setback, it truly ended up being a plus. As someone no longer in Tampa, it allowed me to attend the events that piqued my interests. With the career week being online, panelists from around the country were also able to attend. The in-person social at the end of the week was an excellent networking opportunity, one that also doubled as a fun way to connect with other past and present USF students. It was an excellent way to learn more about a particular field or position in a one-on-one setting. The in-person social granted me the opportunity to network with professionals in fields I am considering entering while also learning more about them as individuals. 

 Prior to the Academic Advising and Administration panel, I had little idea about how to pursue a position in higher education. I had assumed the majority of English degree holders went on to work in copywriting, publishing, or teaching. After hearing the panelists discuss their positions, however, I realized many of my own professional interests aligned with the speakers’ passions. The longer the event continued, the more interested I became in the field. As I had attended the event, I was able to not only directly ask my immediate questions and receive expert answers, but also receive application advice and networking opportunities with employers from an institution I now want to apply to. Without attending the career week, I never would have considered the higher education field or have had the opportunity to be impactfully inspired by other professionals’ passions.

 The English Department plans on making English Career Week an annual event and I absolutely recommend attending. If I had to pick the most helpful and important takeaway I had from attending career week, it would be this: there is no one field in English. Attending career week opened my eyes to just how diverse an English degree can be. Even looking at the lineup of speakers and their professions, I was amazed to see just how diverse their positions were having all completed an English program. I had the opportunity to attend nearly every event and hear each panelist attest to how useful their degree was to building successful skill sets. I was inspired not only from hearing so many unique perspectives and learning about the wide array of potential fields, but also inspired in the way I can better present and sell my professional skill set honed by my experiences in USF’s English program.

Missed the event? Check out our recording:

Harley Campbell, 2015 

Harley is a PhD candidate in the Department of English at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her research interests include medieval and early modern literature, popular religion, hermeneutics, and gender studies.

Layne Farmen, 2013 

Layne is a PhD candidate in the English Department of The University of Tulsa. Research interests include Transatlantic Modernism, Contemporary American Literature, and Adaptation Theory. He has delivered conference papers on the work of James Joyce, the cinema of Richard Linklater, Barry Jenkins, and Terrence Malick, and the music of Bob Dylan, and Lauryn Hill.

Missed the event? Check out our recording:

Recording coming soon

Jay Boda 

Pamela Tinnen 

Pamela is a curator specializing in public art for New York University whose interests most often engage photography, dark tourism, aesthetics, and visual culture. Prior to moving to New York City, Tinnen was Assistant Curator & Art Administrator for the Tom and Mary James/Raymond James Financial Art Collection in St. Petersburg, Florida. She is Fine Art Chair for the Board of Directors of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) NY Chapter, and a member of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC), and the Association of University Galleries and Museums (AAMG), and holds an MA in Museum Studies from New York University and a BA in Literature from the University of South Florida.

Missed the event? Check out our recording:

Dr. Susan Mooney

Dr. Mooney will review CVs, resumes, cover letters, and opportunities through the USF Career Center.

Missed the event? Check out our recording:

Tom Hoeler

Tom is a senior editor at Del Rey Books, one of the biggest science fiction and fantasy imprints in the world, publishing the best books in the genre since 1977.

Allison Renzulli

Allison is the Director of Brand for Ten Speed Press & Clarkson Potter, imprints of Penguin Random House.

Miriam Tuliao

Miriam is a senior library marketing manager at Penguin Random House. A New York Public Library veteran, she is also an adjunct library science instructor at Queens College and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Molly Turpin

Molly is a senior editor for Random House. 

Eric Deggans

Eric is a TV critic for NPR.

Missed the event? Check out our recording:

Lindsay Everest, 2019

Lindsay joined the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay in 2019 providing crisis abatement to those in need as an Intervention Specialist. She then worked as a Care Coordinator in a specialized department focusing on providing comprehensive peer support and wraparound services to youth and young adults with mental health concerns. Now, she works as a Supervisor  managing different Care Coordination programs. 

Maricel Laquindanum, 2016

Maricel was an Operations and Development Coordinator for the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) in Washington D.C. where she supported APALA's mission to advance worker, immigrant, and civil rights within the AAPI community. Prior to this, she was a full-time intern at the Grace City Leadership Institute where she worked with organizations whose mission was to provide aid and serve local communities in Florida, Honduras, Peru, and Guatemala. 

Angela Pitts, 2017

Angela is the current Communications Strategist for the City of Tampa. Her primary responsibilities include managing the City of Tampa’s social media profiles and assisting the Marketing & Communications department with all external communication needs.

She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of South Florida in May 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in Professional Writing, Rhetoric and Technology. She is currently furthering her education at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications, pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Social Media.

Angela is passionate about telling Tampa’s story and helping connect the community to local government. She is a proud Tampa resident, coffee addict, dog mom and comms nerd.

Maureen McDole

Maureen was born in St. Petersburg, Florida. She has written three collection of poems. The third, entitled Feast came out in 2021 from St. Petersburg Press. She has a BA in English Literature from USF-St. Petersburg (class of 2008) and a certificate in Arts & Culture Strategy from University of Pennsylvania. Maureen has been leading workshops and speaking about creativity for over 20 years. She founded the literary arts organization, Keep St. Pete Lit because she believes wholeheartedly in the power of literature to change the world.

Eric Vaughan, 2013

Eric is a USFSP graduate. He received his BA in English in 2013 and a Dual Masters in 2016 all from USFSP (MA in Journalism and MLA Interdisciplinary Studies) . Eric has worked as a teacher in Pinellas County and held a job as the Director of LGBTQ programs and Policies for the New York City Department of Education. He is currently the Director at Community Tampa Bay. A non-profit dedicated to ending all forms of discrimination.

Missed the event? Check out our recording:

Laura Perez, 2020

Laura spent five years as an Admissions and Records Specialist for Hillsborough Community College. She is now a Chemistry Academic Advisor who supports students pursuing the Biomedical Sciences degree. She helps students find their balance, explore their degrees and pathways, develop plans for their appropriate career goals, and much more.

Aradia Vargas, 2020 

Aradia received her Bachelor's degree in Creative Writing from USF with a minor in Classics, or Greek and Roman culture. She is currently employed as the Staff Assistant at the USF Department of World Languages.

Pierce Vaughan, 2018

Pierce has a B.A. in Communication and English, a M.A. in Religious Studies and is presently pursuing a M.Ed in Curriculum and Education with a concentration in College Student Affairs. He is currently working as a graduate assistant academic advisor for USF Health Professions, with prior experience as a graduate teaching assistant and as an intern for the CAS Communication and Marketing Department (the latter being through the English program's internship course).

Paul Schulz 

Paul is a St. Petersburg, Florida native and fiscal & business professional. He currently serves as Manager, Fiscal & Business Administration at the University of South Florida.

Missed the event? Check out our recording:

Dr. Michelle Taylor

Dr. Taylor is an Assistant Professor of Instruction at USF. She also directs the LIT 2000 program at USF and the Wesley Works Digital Edition, a collaborative project across multiple universities.

She teaches undergraduates how to encode documents in XML to prepare them for publication on the Wesley Works website, which digitizes documents of various genres written by John Wesley, the 18th-century religious leader who founded the Protestant denomination Methodism.

Training in XML can help students prepare for graduate programs in library and information science, humanities graduate school programs with a Digital Humanities focus, digital publishing, or tech careers in the private industry. Dr. Taylor will also be working with undergraduates outside of the classroom every semester for those looking for research experience.

Recording not available

Amber Lynn Nicol, Esq., 2018 

Amber graduated magna cum laude from USFSP with a B.A. in English and Certificate in Creative Writing, and cum laude from Stetson University College of Law with her Juris Doctor. She is an associate with the firm Weber, Crabb & Wein, P.A. in St. Petersburg, FL, practicing civil litigation and estate planning. She is also a local musician and environmental advocate.

Jerrod Simpson, 2012

Recording not available

Mimi Coto, 2021

Emily Norton

Allison Symulevich

Missed the event? Check out our recording:

Mary Isabella Fraraccio, 2020

Mary Isabella graduated in 2020 and was hired to teach 8th grade Language Arts the following fall. She is now teaching high school English and plans on applying to return to USF for her Masters in English Literature next school year. 

Isabelle Kuhns, 2019

Isabelle Kuhns has a BA in English Literature with a minor in Communications and a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) from the University of South Florida. She currently teaches English to Freshmen and Juniors at Sickles High School in Tampa, Florida. 

Emily de la Paz, 2016

Emily  is a graduate of English Literature and Cultural Studies with a minor in Art History from the University of South Florida. She currently teaches Middle School Language Arts and serves as the English Department Head at Starkey Ranch K-8 in Odessa, Florida. Emily is currently pursuing her Master's in Educational Leadership at USF. 

Paul Schulz

Missed the event? Check out our recording:

Rachel Stutler, 2022

Rachel is currently double majoring in International Studies and Professional and Technical Communication, and is graduating this summer. Rachel completed a non-profit internship with Habitat for Humanity, following the next semester doing a legislative internship with Hillsborough County School Board. Now in her final semester, Rachel is completing an internship with the Florida House of Representatives during the legislative session. Following graduation, Rachel hopes to work in the political process.

Hellen Popa, 2022

Hellen is a fourth-year student majoring in Political Science, Psychology, and English. She has pursued internships in both the political and legal sectors, most notably interning for Florida House Representatives Ben Diamond and Fentrice Driskell as well as for a local immigration law firm. Post-graduation, Hellen plans to attend law school with the intent of becoming an immigration attorney.