FIND YOUR VOICE: MORGAN GALVEZ
Welcome to Find Your Voice, a series profiling English students and the stories they have to tell.
As we are trying to figure out what career we want to go into as English majors, many of us forget about the professionalization opportunities right under our noses and the careers those opportunities may lead to.
From joining and being published in Cisternyard Media to an intern at the Charleston City Paper, Morgan Galvez has lots to say about journalism.
Since a young age, Galvez has always loved to read and write. She says that she would buy books every week to a point where her mother made a rule for her to finish at least five books before buying more. “Because I would just hoard them,” she explains.
Galvez learned the wonders that accompany a major in English in middle school, “I learned it was even possible to major in a major all about reading and writing.” She knew then that an English major was what she wanted to pursue.
However, as a teacher’s assistant in high school, she learned the hard way that teaching was not an option for her. She took advice from her professor and found, through the grueling process of grading papers, teaching was too monotonous a career track.
Though, immediately in her first year at The College, she declared her major in English saying, “I knew there would be something I could do with it.”
Getting her internship was made easy through the diligence of Professor Dr. Holmes. All she needed to do was email the Charleston City Paper with some writing samples and she had the gig. Though, she explains that she previously had an internship that was not so amazing, “I interned last spring and did not have a great experience where I was only doing grunt work and learned nothing, but I didn’t let that stop me from finding another one. One bad experience doesn’t make or break an internship experience and even if it is bad, it shows you how tough the real world can be and makes you have to deal with a rough situation.”
She says the biggest necessity for obtaining an internship is to have a portfolio. Even without a ton of experience, have some writing samples that exemplify different styles while showing your creative voice.
Currently, Galvez is in her final year at The College, hoping to graduate with a completed Writing, Rhetoric, and Publication concentration. She believes she will stay in the Charleston area saying, “it is the best place in the state for journalism.” Though, she hopes to find her way to bigger cities one day.
Journalism is one of the few fields left that require you to have experience, but allow you to work your way up rather than getting qualifications through school
