Morgan Rooney

B.A. English ’02, M.A. English ’03

I currently work in higher education in two different capacities. In my full-time job with Carleton’s Teaching and Learning Services (TLS), I provide programming and consultations to help instructors, teaching assistants, librarians, and staff in their roles as teachers. As a part-time instructor with the English Department, I teach upper-year courses in my area of specialization (British literature of the ‘long’ eighteenth century) as well as introductory-level surveys and writing-intensive courses.

My degrees in English prepared me in a variety of ways for the kinds of work that I currently do. While my education has, of course, prepared me to teach English courses, the skills I developed have also served me in my role at the TLS. The research projects that were staples of my undergraduate and graduate education gave me the time-management and researching skills that I use every day, for instance, and the writing skills that my programs fostered are something that I use every hour of the working day. I have found that English majors stand out in the workplace for their writing in particular: once your colleagues see how strong of a writer you are, they will come to you for all things writing related – and that is value-added to any team.

How has your Carleton English degree informed your professional and/or creative path?

My BA experience at Carleton sparked my interest in literary studies, inspiring me to pursue graduate school. My graduate studies, in turn, helped me further to hone valuable skills (researching, writing, communicating, teaching/training) that prepared me for a variety of roles. As a result of those experiences, I’m now in a position where I have gainful employment doing things that I really enjoy – teaching, training, and helping others, both as an educational developer and as an English instructor.

Why Carleton?  What specific experiences or opportunities did you benefit from while studying English at Carleton?

The ‘why Carleton?’ question is always an easy one for me: Carleton has an incredibly warm and supportive environment, faculty and staff included. I had a professor in the third year of my undergraduate degree who took the time to communicate how impressed he was with my work and to encourage me to consider going to graduate school. That kind of support can (and did) have a huge impact. More generally, I spent a lot of time knocking on the doors of my professors and TAs in my undergrad, asking for help and guidance, and everyone was always happy to share and help. It’s hard to over-exaggerate the importance of these small touches.