3 Under 30 — The website Charlotte Agenda recently ran an article titled “30 Under 30” in which they featured thirty young people who are making a difference in the Charlotte community. Inside UNC Charlotte picked up this story and noted that of the people featured in the article six graduated from UNC Charlotte, including one who majored in English. For more information, please click on the following link: http://inside.uncc.edu/news-features/2017-09-11/alums-make-%E2%80%9930-under-30%E2%80%99-list In response to this article, I decided to celebrate the accomplishments of three young people who recently received degrees from our English Department.
Ashley Pittman Bookout is the English major who is included in Charlotte Agenda’s “30 Under 30.” Ashley graduated in 2011 after which she worked in corporate Charlotte for a few years. However, Ashley’s long-time love of flowers and flower arranging, combined with her entrepreneurial spirit, led her to found Bookout Blooms in the fall of 2015. Located in Atherton Market in the Southend, Bookout Blooms is already recognized as one of Charlotte’s premier florists. According to Paul Redd (another one of our former students), “This is the best florist in Charlotte. Hands down! Ashley has done the flowers for my daughter’s celebrations, my grandmother’s funeral, and everything in between. I will continue to support these fine people. Plus you get to see her smiling face when you go to pick them up at Atherton Market.”
Peter Fields received both his BA (2015) and MA (2017) in English from our department. Peter is now working as an outdoor educator in Florissant, Colorado. In a recent email that Peter sent to me, he wrote, “Teaching on the trail at High Trails Outdoor Education Center has been one of the most unique, stimulating and fulfilling experiences of my life. Each lesson requires a different approach, and the variety of material covered has far exceeded expectations. My time learning under the English Department’s wonderful professors has undoubtedly contributed to my preparedness as an instructor and provided examples of how to bring out the inquisitive nature in students.”
Mark Taylor received both his BA (2011) and MA (2014) in English from our department, where he specialized in Technical and Professional Writing. Since 2015, he has worked for IMPLAN Group a global software company headquartered in Huntersville. Mark currently has the title of Applied Support Economist. In this role, he analyzes economic impact data and modeling to governments, universities, and public and private sector organizations for assessing the economic impacts of project decisions in all industry sectors. Mark will be one of our featured speakers at our upcoming Major’s Day, which will take place on October 23.
As these brief profiles indicate, our English majors go on to pursue a wide variety of careers. So what can you do with an English major? The correct answer is just about anything.
English Learning Community News — The English Learning Community has put up their new bulletin board. ELC Peer mentors Bethany Hyder and MaKalea Bjoin have designed something a little different this year, giving it an Alice in Wonderland theme as well as making it a bit more interactive. In addition to seeing pictures and learning about the individual members, you can also leave them little notes of encouragement. Please stop by and learn a bit more about the newest members of our department. Let’s make them feel like a part of our department. Please let Tiffany Morin know if there is any events coming up that the ELC can be involved with.
Kudos — As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to share news about recent accomplishments by members of our department. Here is the latest news:
Ron Lunsford (and Christopher Daniel Lunsford) delivered a paper titled “Insurance Claims and Denials: Insights Provided by Rhetorical Genre Theory” at the third biennial meeting of The Symposium on the Rhetoric of Health and Medicine, Sept 14-15, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Quirky Quiz Question — Bookout Blooms is located in Atherton Market. Does anybody know the original purpose of this facility before it became a market?