Administration

Nick Simons

lamontagne — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 15:30:41 +0000

Nick Simons lamontagne Tue, 03/26/2019 - 11:30

Career Field

Administration

Alumni Development Coordinator

Year of Graduation

2017

Corning Community College

“The analytical mindset, attention to detail, and global skepticism of my existence contribute to my personal and professional life.I am appreciative of the culture of friendliness embodied by the philosophy department. Having taken the majority of my classes with Dr. Everett, Dr. Soffer, and Dr. Edgar, I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to learn from such genuine people.”

Bari Zeiger

lamontagne — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 15:17:12 +0000

Bari Zeiger lamontagne Tue, 03/26/2019 - 11:17

Career Field

Administration

Sustainable Agriculture Coordinator

Year of Graduation

2016

Frost Valley YMCA

“The ability to form persuasive, logical arguments allowed me to present a farm intensification and expansion plan to the CEO of the organization I am employed at. After a successful pitch, I was promoted by the CEO to execute the plan that I created. This skill has also proved helpful in writing and reviewing competitive grant proposals. In addition, my background in ethical theory and environmental ethics provides a lens through which I evaluate certain methods employed on the farm, especially regarding livestock husbandry.”

Anna McDermott

lamontagne — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 14:39:52 +0000

Anna McDermott lamontagne Tue, 03/26/2019 - 10:39

Career Field

Administration

Registrar

Year of Graduation

2013

The Harley School

“I usually joke that my Philosophy studies enabled me to argue my way into a job - a joke that has some basis in truth! I've found that the rigorous critical thinking expected of Philosophy majors at �鶹��ý�Ŷ� is really helping me when I need to advocate for something at my job. It's useful to be able to explain WHY a change would be helpful, instead of just insisting that it's true. Also, I've had to do a little data science work at my job. Stacey Edgar's Logic class was an extraordinary preparation for learning to code.”

Michelle English

lamontagne — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 19:24:17 +0000

Michelle English lamontagne Mon, 03/18/2019 - 15:24

Career Field

Administration

Director of Operations

Year of Graduation

2007

J&J Editorial

“I sharpened my critical thinking skills in my philosophy classes, and I'd say that being able to have reasoned discussions with others is critical to my current job when making decisions for my business. With Philosophy, I learned to be able to confidently analyze, decide, and discuss the issues at hand, while still having the humility to hearothers’ perspectives and accept when my views were flawed. Philosophy's rigorous coursework puts emphasis on a lot of individual reading and written assignments - I think that pairs well with my chosen career path as both a leader and executive.”

Laura Lightfoote

lamontagne — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 15:41:00 +0000

Laura Lightfoote lamontagne Mon, 03/18/2019 - 11:41

Career Field

Administration

Media Database Technical Account Manager

Year of Graduation

2002

Gracenote

“Logic classes have been extremely helpful for tech work. I advise clients how to use our data, so making convincing arguments is really important. Eastern Philosophy has also really helped me personally as a guide for behavior.”

Veronica McGrath

lamontagne — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 13:16:44 +0000

Veronica McGrath lamontagne Mon, 03/18/2019 - 09:16

Career Field

Administration

LibraryAssistant

Year of Graduation

2001

Walter Panas High School

“I loved studying Philosophy. It made me who I am today. I have opinions and perspectives that are different from typical thinking. I owe this to my studies.”

Eileen Daly-Boas

lamontagne — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 20:20:55 +0000

Eileen Daly-Boas lamontagne Fri, 03/15/2019 - 16:20

Career Field

Administration

Outreach Librarian

Year of Graduation

1991

University of Rochester

"My ability to break down a problem into its basic elements, clarify terminology, and make meaningful coherent arguments helps every day in my job."

Patrick Raitt

jc78 — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 16:05:18 +0000

Patrick Raitt jc78 Wed, 08/29/2018 - 12:05

Career Field

Administration

Director

Year of Graduation

1999

Foundation Relations AARP & AARP Foundation

Since I graduated in '99, I have had the honor of working in a variety of positions at leading nonprofits including AARP & AARP Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, and the Ocean Conservancy. As a fundraising professional, I have worked on issues including overfishing, climate change, early childhood literacy, and senior hunger. I have held positions from entry level to management. Most important, though, I have had the opportunity to work with talented, smart, hardworking people trying to solve big problems. Waking up for work isn’t hard for me (most days!). I get paid to help make the world a better place.

While I can’t say what would have happened in my life if I had chosen a more “practical” major, I can tell you that being an English major did not slow me down. In fact, I have a job I love and get paid enough to live well, support my family, and save for retirement. At the same time, being an English major alone has not led to whatever success I’ve achieved (or my failures for that matter). Truth be told, having the courage to pursue your vision and the resilience to persevere in the face of adversity will serve you more than a college degree. There are plenty of successful entrepreneurs, musicians, writers, and actors who never finished college that prove this point.

With that, getting a degree in English helped me in some key ways:

Making a strong case: Whether you are trying to sell an idea to your partner, friends, your boss, or clients, having the skill to make a case that’s logical, well supported, and authentic will always come in handy. As an English major, you need to absorb a lot of complex information, develop compelling thesis statements that illuminate important facets of these works, and use key data to drive home your point. The skill of synthesizing complex information into cohesive, well written arguments has been critical to my success and has translated into many millions of dollars in grants over the years for the organizations I’ve served. Needless to say, this is one of the most marketable aspects of my résumé. Recruiters contact me almost weekly with job opportunities thanks to the results this skill has helped yield.
Appreciating diverse perspectives: Showing respect for differences is expected in the workplace nowadays. When I was at �鶹��ý�Ŷ�, I was lucky enough to stretch beyond the classics and study works by writers from diverse backgrounds with experiences fundamentally different from mine. These writers (with the help of my professors and fellow students) opened my eyes to other peoples’ perspectives, taught me to celebrate them, and helped me recognize how each of us has a role to play in creating an inclusive society. And while reading a book or a scholarly article can never fully allow you to understand what it’s like to see the world through another person’s eyes, as an English major, I became more proactive in my cultural sensitivity. This is important in a business setting since many of us work with people from a variety of backgrounds; and we all have something unique to offer. My time as an English major set the groundwork for me to actively seek out thinking that was different from (and many times contradictory to) my own. This approach, especially working in team environments, has propelled me into management roles and high-profile projects everywhere I’ve worked.
Becoming a better person: New York Times columnist David Brooks once said, “Everyone is born with moral imagination — a need to feel that life is in service to some good.” Being an English major at �鶹��ý�Ŷ� was a special time and one of the most important reasons was that it gave me the opportunity to immerse myself in the human condition, which for me morphed into a sense of responsibility to better the world. I learned that issues like racism, poverty, environmental destruction, and sexism are problems that are centuries old. More profoundly, I came to believe that I could and should play a role in addressing these challenges. While the issues my colleagues and I work on (as well as many, many other people from all sectors of the economy) cannot be solved overnight, I know that my time as an English major helped expand my moral imagination and—undoubtedly—steered me toward a life in service to some good.

I can attest that if literature is what gets your blood pumping, then English as a major will be time and money well spent. In fact, it might just be what you need to begin living your life filled with a sense of purpose. It was for me.

Mary Farrell

jc78 — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 15:46:40 +0000

Mary Farrell jc78 Wed, 08/29/2018 - 11:46

Career Field

Administration

Owner and Chief Corporate Officer

Year of Graduation

1974

Mintz + Hoke Communications Group (Avon, Connecticut)

Approaching the end of my career in communications, I’m majority owner of Mintz + Hoke Marketing Communications, the agency I first joined more than 40 years ago. In that time I started and built a public relations practice into one of the most award-winning in New England, earned professional accreditation, and was honored with a “lifetime achievement” award in my region by the Public Relations Society of America

Over the years, I’ve directed almost every area of the agency, from research, PR, media, digital and client service to human resources, accounting and finance. For many years I’ve served as an officer on the boards of non-profit organizations as well as one of the largest global networks of independent advertising agencies. Last year, I managed that network as interim executive director.

Having planned to teach college, I’d never considered going into the communications business. As it turns out, I couldn’t have been better prepared. The knowledge and critical skills I acquired at �鶹��ý�Ŷ� have helped me succeed in every aspect of my work: from asking better questions and reading between the lines, to thinking strategically about our clients’ businesses and our own, to conceptualizing and presenting campaigns, to writing and producing, to hiring, coaching and managing people.

I’ve been fortunate to work with so many smart, creative people at Mintz + Hoke, many of whom I had the opportunity to recruit and hire, including a talented copywriter who became my husband, business partner and CEO of the agency. For most of his first interview, we talked about books. And, no surprise, he was an English major.