In two to four sentences, describe your post-Biola work/life journey.

When I graduated from Biola in May 2014, I had no clue what I wanted to do with my degree. All I knew was that I wanted to do something with books, so I got a part-time job at Barnes & Noble and a part-time job at a public library. I also did an editorial internship for a magazine company and started doing some freelance proofreading online.

Eventually, I moved back to my home state of Georgia and got a full-time job at a college library. While working there, I applied and was accepted to a month-long publishing course at Oxford University, which led to my current job as a proofreader for HarperCollins Publishers in Princeton, NJ. I’ve been here for a little over one year now.

What’s your current occupation, and in what ways did getting a degree in English prepare you for your job?

I proofread books in the final stage of their life before publication. I’m checking mostly for grammatical and typographical errors. I also proofread eBooks against their printed counterparts, and I do data entry for other projects. Getting an English degree helped me become a better reader and writer, which are both instrumental to my job. I was constantly editing and proofreading for English classes—and now I do it for a living.

What was a favorite class or experience you had while a Biola English major?

I still tell people about my afternoon interviewing button collectors for the Creative Nonfiction class. I also really enjoyed the Fiction and Poetry classes, and Advanced Composition led to my first published magazine article. Acting out Shakespeare plays with Dr. Kleist was grand as well. It’s hard to pick one class, but those are the highlights!

What about life after college was most surprising to you?

I was surprised by how many options there were—you can do so many different things with an English degree! It was a bit overwhelming at first, all the directions I could go in. I was also surprised by how hard it is to make new friends as a working adult. If you want to be better friends with a person, you have to be really intentional about spending time with him or her. It made me appreciate my time at Biola so much more, especially the friends I made there that I’m still close to.

What advice would you give to a current Biolan majoring in English? Or what’s something you did in college that later helped you professionally?

Seek out internships and/or get a part-time job while you’re still in college, even if it’s not in a career you want to pursue. Don’t wait for opportunities to just fall in your lap, but at the same, recognize that everything happens in God’s timing. I struggled a lot with not being settled in a career after I graduated, but the publishing course I took and the department I currently work in did not exist until the Fall of 2016—more than two years after I’d graduated. You may not know how an internship or job will help your career, but God does. Don’t be afraid to travel or move either. Bonus advice: find a mentor! This is probably the only time in your life when you will be surrounded by a plethora of adults who are willing to give you their time, wisdom, experiences, and prayer. Take advantage of it.

What are you reading?

I just finished reading The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty, an excellent fantasy novel that takes place in 18th-century Egypt. I’m listening to Perelandra by C.S. Lewis on audiobook, and I’m about to start reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.