Be Brave!
~ Emily Davis
Once a person graduates from college, they never truly leave it behind. I always assumed after I walked across the stage to receive my diploma, I would walk my way out of Fordham and never turn back. Yet, after completing this project and having the opportunity to speak both with alumni and underclassmen, I quickly learned that the exact opposite is true. Fordham is a community full of individuals who want to help each other. People who want to see their peers succeed. People who don’t want to abandon the tightly knit writing community they built during their time as students.
I personally had the pleasure of speaking with three Fordham graduates that majored in English with a Concentration in Creative Writing: Lizz Bogaard, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’19, Helena Madden, FCRH ’18, and Kiera Forsythe, FCRH ’24. All at different points in their lives and all pursuing a variety of different careers, I saw the possibilities of my journey as a writer flash before my eyes. As a college senior, it is incredibly daunting to think about what comes next as school has been the only thing I have known my whole life. However, my conversations with these amazing young women gave me incredible reassurance that everything would work out the way it is supposed to no matter what path I decide to take. Lizz is a copywriter by day, and a play writer and filmmaker by night. She uses her career and the funds she makes from it to fuel herself creatively as an artist. On the other hand, Helena has put all of her creative energy into her day job, working as a writer for a furniture and home design magazine. In her writing, Helena often finds ways to apply her passions for her personal hobbies—such as video games—into her writing for the magazine she works for. Kiera graduated from Fordham less than a year ago and is already on to working as an ad sales associate for CBS Sports. She never considered herself much of a sports person before beginning her career at CBS, and recalls being very stressed at this time last year because she wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do. Eventually, though, she found her niche and has her footing in terms of her career.
Even though these Fordham alumni have all taken their English degrees in different directions, they all appeared to come to the consensus that making connections and putting yourself out there is one of the most important actions to take when it comes to achieving success. Without advocating for yourself and channeling your inner confidence, no one will know that you want to be a writer. Unfortunately, careers are not simply handed out to everyone, so it is essential to make moves as soon as you can. Whether that be connecting with Fordham alumni on LinkedIn and messaging them about their careers, or speaking with your fellow classmates about your passions, creating a community of support is necessary to flourish as a writer. Be bold! Be brave! Get out there and make connections!