Dana Foley

Dana Foley is currently a Digital Communications Strategist working for the Real Property Institute of Canada. During her undergraduate degree, she completed Carleton University’s co-operative education program and worked in several communications roles, which led her to pursue a career in communications post graduation. She is also an avid writer and has had her poetry and short stories published in several Canadian and international literary magazines.

My English Degree absolutely has everything to do with the current career path that I am on. I didn’t enroll in the English program thinking that I would end up in communications. In fact, I was really only drawn to the program because I love reading and writing, but the experiences I had in the co-op program made me realize that a career in communications was possible for English majors.

The writing workshops that I participated in during my degree also greatly informed the writer that I am today.

I am very grateful for the co-operative education program. I was able to gain so much valuable experience while completing my degree, and I was able to graduate university feeling like I had options in front of me and a clear career path.

I ended up adding a writing concentration during my third year, and I am so happy I did! Not only did the workshops offer fun and creative spaces to balance out all my academic work, they also greatly improved my writing and editing skills.

I would also say that Carleton’s English Department is so welcoming and inclusive. In my upper-level years, I had the benefit of participating in very small classes and really getting to know my professors. The English Department events were always fun and interesting as well, and it was easy to feel plugged into my English community.