Alumni Testimonials
Jenny Roberts-O'Brian, BSE English '92
Principal, Notre Dame High School in Elmira, New York
My days at Mansfield University were some of my favorite days. I was so well prepared for my profession as an educator and felt and still do feel so connected to the MU community. I was the first person in my family to graduate from college and must admit that when I entered the campus I was at a loss as to what I wanted to study. I was inspired by the English professors I had and they helped me uncover my passion for English. I am so grateful for Jay Gertzman's instruction in my radical literature class; Dr. Koloski's introduction to Kate Chopin, a nineteenth century author who still speaks to me as a woman and mother; Dr. Uffelman's grammar expertise, and Dr. Glimm's unwillingness to give me the grade I wanted versus the grade I deserved -- he pushed me hard as a writer and it is a skill I rely on daily. I always felt that the faculty at MU saw me and the gifts I brought to the table. They helped me grow personally and professionally.
I worked in the Graduate Studies office to fulfill my work study commitment and learned so much under the direction of Pam Boyce and JoAnne Davis. I developed a life-long friendship with the graduate student assigned to the same office, Kiran Dixit, truly my first international friend! My high school, where I currently serve as principal, was, in the 1980's, comprised mostly of white, middle class Catholics. Mansfield expanded my awareness and understanding of other cultures. Mansfield gave me the confidence and experience to later spend time teaching in a Japanese middle school in Shizuoka Prefecture. My current role has been greatly impacted by these experiences and I am happy to report that Notre Dame High School in Elmira, New York is now serving 19 different school districts, awarding over 60% of our students tuition assistance and supporting a residential program serving 12 students from China.
My Mansfield friends remain my friends, and I get together with them every few years and stay in close contact via social networking. Mansfield fostered my independence without ever allowing me to feel unsupported. In my previous role as Director of Admissions at Notre Dame, I have had the opportunity to escort ND students on visits to the Mansfield campus. Yes, today's students at MU have a stunning library, a fully-equipped athletic center and new dorms at their fingertips, but the one constant at MU -- is the character and commitment of the people who attend and work at Mansfield University. I continue to be impressed and am grateful for the years I spent at Mansfield!!
Chris Rinnert, BA English '13
APSCUF Office Manager at Mansfield University and Prevention Educator and Outreach Coordinator for HAVEN of Tioga County
I graduated in May 2013 with my degree in English with History and Women’s Studies minors.
I am one of only three students admitted to the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona under their new GRE admissions program – the first students in the nation to be accepted into an ABA accredited law school without an LSAT score.
I begin law school on August 17 and plan to specialize in law that deal with Title IX issues, sexual assault, and domestic violence cases.
Mansfield University’s English and Modern Languages Department professors have prepared me for this next adventure.
Tom Saveri, BA English '97
Owner and Broker, Howard Hanna Realty Pioneers
You never can tell where the benefits of an English degree are going to take you. As a "non-traditional student," I went back to university in 1997. Instead of doing what most “non-trads” would do and pursue a degree in business administration, I chased what turned out to be a passion for language and literature. I found myself having a discussion with my father that other English majors may recognize. He said, 'I think it’s great you’re getting your degree but what are you going to do with it?' To which I replied with a measure of faith, 'I’m not sure Dad, but it will take care of itself.' I got my Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Why? Oh where do I begin to count the ways...
My experience with English Literature demanded that I engage others via the reading, become more empathetic and understanding, and it gave me the opportunity to consider the important things in life. It made me a better communicator, a deeper thinker, and certainly a better employer.
From the tools I acquired in pursuit of my English degree, I went on to be a trainer in the real estate industry, which in turn made me better at what I now do as the broker owner of the largest real estate company in North Central Pennsylvania. I even ended up using my writing experience to write classes and training within the industry."
Kerry Jones, BA English '94
Writing Center Director and English Instructor, Wichita State University
I graduated from MU in 1994 with a major in English and two minors—creative writing (I was the first one to graduate with that minor!) and another in philosophy. I was at Temple for a year (1997-98) in their MA in Creative Writing program before transferring to Wichita State’s MFA program. I received my MFA in fiction in 2000. Currently, I am an instructor of English (literature, composition, creative writing) and director of the WSU’s Writing Center. In 2015-16, I was an Online Learning Faculty Fellow, and I designed our department’s first online literature course offering in 2014.
My short stories, most of them set in Pennsylvania, have recently appeared in Seems, Alaska Quarterly, Sycamore Review, and Bryan Literary Review. I also have two short story collections that are usually in circulation: The Ghosts in the Glen and The Last Innocent Year. Ghosts has been a finalist for many awards, including The Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and this summer it was a third-time finalist for the Autumn House Press Award. I’ve just started putting The Last Innocent Year in circulation, and this summer it was a semi-finalist for Snake Nation Press’ fiction award.
I am currently working on a novel, Dimestore Rita, which takes place in western Kansas during the early-mid 1930s, and is told from the POV of an adult narrator looking back on this particular time, when she was a teenager. Aside from the main character, “Rita” is the former flapper who left the small town to become a movie star. She landed one small role in Grand Hotel where she had one moment one-screen, and her only line was, “How may I connect you, sir?” Of course, she had to return home and go back to work in her father’s dime store, where the narrator is also working.
How did being an MU English major help me? Gosh. Where to start? MU was where I learned that an MFA, a terminal creative degree, even existed, and I thought if I was going to teach, that meant I had to teach middle school or high school. I didn’t know how anyone ended up teaching college. In my sophomore year, when I made the full transition from political science to English (I came in as a political science major—my parents were very happy at the prospect of a lawyer in the family), I started to get to know the English Department faculty, and that changed everything. From Louise Blum and Judith Sornberger I learned not just about the craft of fiction and poetry, but about an MFA and how one goes about getting one, and I also learned to become more confident in my writing. Louise became my writing mentor, and her confidence and encouragement made me stop saying, “I want to be a writer” and start saying, “I am a writer.”
But we all have to pay bills. Teaching college sounded like fun, and the faculty at MU certainly made it seem like fun, but how do you know you might want to do it, or that you might be good at it? It was in one of Lynn Pifer's classes I made that discovery. We had to do brief individual presentations in American Literature II. I did my presentation on Maus. I knew a friend/fellow English major and Writing Center tutor (Amy Hellman) was terrified of mice. My boyfriend had a cat, so I brought in a furry little toy mouse and said, “Today I’m going to talk about Maus, but I don’t mean this kind.” I threw it at her, she caught it, she screamed, and everyone laughed. I relaxed and had a ball. Our presentations could only be 10 minutes long, but I’m pretty sure that was the beginning of everything I do now. MU meant so much to me I still have papers from literature classes, stories I wrote for Louise, cards I was given at graduation—you name it.