Clark catches up with former majors
By Cara Miller
It seems only natural after years of teaching — spending unlimited time and energy with students so they might reach their full potential — that professors would be interested to know what has become of their former pupils. Have they been successful? Achieved their goals? Did they use anything they learned in the classroom? Better yet, did they actually learn anything in the classroom?
Dr. Sandy Clark BS ’64, an English professor at Anderson University for the past 31 years, is attempting to get to the bottom of these looming questions in hopes to not only satisfy her own curiosity, but also to offer current students encouragement as English majors.
“The big question seems to be, ‘What can you do with an English major besides teach,’” says Clark. “What I’ve found is that the possibilities are endless. Our former English majors have gone on to do all kinds of interesting jobs, and they’re still using the English and communication skills they learned while at Anderson.”
While on sabbatical last spring, Clark took it as an opportunity to catch up with former AU English majors. She sent out queries to English alumni, requesting a brief summary of the career opportunities they’ve pursued and any advice they might have for current English students.
More than 65 alumni, some graduating as far back as 1943, happily responded with letters and e-mails. Many have pursued the traditional career path into education, teaching at various levels from elementary through college. In fact, several of the current professors in AU’s Department of English, including Deborah Miller BA ’89, Zola Noble BA ’68, Jill Dickerson BA ’68, Kevin Radaker BA ’78, and Bonnie Landis BA ’68, started out as AU English majors.
Other alumni are teaching English as a second language. Jenny Dunbar BA ’03 traveled to Tokyo soon after graduation, teaching English to students who range in age from 2 to 70. “My English courses at AU helped prepare me to be an English teacher and also to teach the Bible to second language learners,” Dunbar wrote in her letter.
However, education is hardly the only profession available to English majors. Graduates have pursued a wide variety of career options, including journalism, book writing, editing, publishing, counseling, social services, sales, business management, missionary work, government jobs, and military assignments.
Kristin Keever BA ’02 has been the manager of a hardware store for three years and says that her English degree has afforded her self-confidence and the ability to represent her business at conferences.
The Rev. Dr. Byrum A. Makokha BA ’66 has been the chief executive of the Church of God in East Africa (Kenya) since 1970. He writes that he uses his English skills often as his responsibilities include frequent written correspondence and public speaking.
With so many unique responses, Clark’s biggest challenge now is figuring out how to compile the information so that it is concise and easy to read. “I’d like to make a booklet for AU students so they can read through and see all the opportunities that are open to them,” Clark says. “The possibilities are wide open, and it’s been so encouraging to see how former students have gone on to achieve such great things.”
