Alumni Advice

Julie Minicozzi

BA English 2012, MA English 2016
J.D. Rutgers Law School 2020
District Court Term Clerk for Judge Wigenton of the New Jersey District Court in Newark

What do you enjoy most about your current career?

"I love constantly learning about the law and evaluating fact patterns in the matters on which I work. Every single day I learn about various different aspects of the law, including substantive and procedural aspects of the law, and ethics and professionalism,as well. While attorneys hone their craft over time and often become subject-matter experts, the learning never stops because the law is constantly evolving. Even seasoned attorneys must continue to study the law as new cases and statutes impact the matters on which they work. Multiple cases may be similar, but there are almost always distinctions that challenge lawyers to evaluate each matter on its own merits, rather than assuming matters are factually synonymous. That ability to recognize distinctions--whether minute or pronounced--is a critical exercise in the law, and is one that I enjoy doing every day."

What do you cherish most about your time at William Paterson University and how did your experience at William Paterson University provide you with unique skills that assisted you in pursuit of your law degree and current career?

"The English Department at WP is a special place filled with deeply thinking, profoundly feeling, and incredibly communicative people. While there are many students who take classes in English, the ones who remain as English majors tend to form a special bond with each other and with the wonderful WP English professors. We bare pieces of our souls to each other when we willingly workshop our writing and when we evaluate great literature and tell others our thoughts about what we have read. The classes are experiential and confessional--almost therapeutic, in a way. The friendships borne from that kind of experience are genuine and knowing. While we are learning about writing and analyzing literature, we are also learning about each other's humanity. Law school is very different; the bonds that form in law school come from the shared experience of thriving in a challenging and high-pressure learning environment in which personal feelings are secondary and maintaining a frenetic pace of concentration and achievement is paramount. It is not for the faint of heart. I loved law school, but when I think about WP, I feel a warm pang of nostalgia for the exciting and intimate writing and literature workshops and the many friendships formed within them.

As far as the unique skills I learned at WP, the many writing and literature classes I took at WP are what contributed most to my success in law school and, so far, as an attorney. Most people envision attorneys as in-person, vocal advocates in court rooms. I hate to burst that lovely thought bubble, but that is an incredibly tiny part of being an attorney. Most of the time, attorneys are thinking, analyzing, negotiating, and writing-- and writing is arguably the most important skill. If you cannot write well, you likely will not be a great attorney. The composition, grammar and advanced grammar, fiction writing, non-fiction writing, and other writing courses--including and especially poetry (word-level writing) courses--that I took at WP taught me skills that I employ every day. And the literature courses taught me reading comprehension and high-level analytical skills that I also employ every day. I cannot think of a better major for my line of work, and I am grateful to have taken such impactful courses with so many wonderful, dedicated professors."

What would you say to a student who is concerned an English degree will limit their career options?

"I would challenge the student to name ten careers that do not require a person to be a skilled writer and communicator. I would wager to guess that many of the ten careers the student would name are likely ones that a person could do without attending college. And I applaud anyone who realizes that one of those careers is the right path and decides to go in that direction. But, if you are going to college and pursuing a career for which a college degree is suited, then you very likely will need to know how to read and write well. The vast majority of employment positions for college graduates require effective communication skills, especially in this digital age. Employers want to hire people who can write well. I have been involved in hiring before, and I have attended interviews during my own career as a candidate and as an evaluator. I have never seen an employer purposely not hire someone who has an English degree. In fact, in my current career, the employers with whom I have interviewed have expressed absolute preference for English majors. It is true that a graduate degree may be needed to best put that knowledge to use in business (MBA), law (J.D.), or another specialized field. But the option to double major or major/minor during a person's undergraduate studies can overcome that need in the short term, if one is not inclined to go to graduate school. Not for one day have I regretted my choice of degrees. My English B.A. (writing), English M.A. (literature), and J.D. have served me well, and continue to do so. The sky's the limit for those who study in earnest and truly dedicate themselves to learning in any given field."

Joseph Gonzalez 

BA English 2017
Advertisement Editor, Pharmaceutical Industry 

What do you do for work?

I edit for a pharmaceutical advertising agency. Our clients are the companies that advertise drugs. It’s our job to make sure the statistics are correct, that all the side effects are listed. If anything is incorrect, there could be repercussions for our client.

What do you enjoy most about your job?  

The editing and proofreading. My major was English [with a concentration in] writing. Writing and editing go hand-in-hand. I’ve always wanted a job where I’m not looking at the clock. This is the first job where I like what I do. There’s something new every day, and I work with a really good team of people. It’s a good environment. It’s a hard field to get the hang of, but once I did I loved it. We’re doing the work to help people who need these drugs to live longer lives and get treatment.

How did your experience at William Paterson University prepare you for your career?  

Once I switched majors in sophomore year, the majority of my classes were literature, reading, and writing on top of that. In my junior year I had four literature classes, so I had to read four different books at the same time. It was a lot. But essentially that’s my job, there’s a lot of reading. I realized I was having a good time, and that’s what I always come back to. I never want to have a job I don’t like doing. Money comes second.

What did you enjoy most about your time at William Paterson University?

All of my teachers in the English department were passionate about reading and writing and they had these unorthodox ways of teaching that helps you remember things. The first day I came in to one class I had to write a poem about candy, so I wrote about skittles. And then we had to critique the poems! It always came back to reading, writing, editing. Professor Witt was my advisor and then later on my internship advisor. I happened to get an internship my last year of school and she, through the internship class, required me to reflect on the internship and prepare for the real world. It helped with looking toward the future.  

What advice do you have for current or prospective English majors at WPU?

If you’re someone already in school, prepare your finances if you have student loans. I graduated with a lot of student loans and I can manage it, but it could potentially hit people hard. You’re going to want to get yourself in a good position whether you have private, federal, or both. Research your options.

For people looking to do writing, make sure it’s something you genuinely enjoy. Not every class you take is going to be in the genre you’re most interested. If you’re interested in fiction, you might have to do autobiography or something else out of your comfort zone, but it all wraps together. You never know where your career is going to take you, and you might find other things that you take an interest in. Don’t be afraid to try out different classes because you don’t know what else you might like. Go with your heart.

John Salimbene

MFA Creative and Professional Writing 2023

What is your job title and what are some of the tasks you perform for the internship?

I’m a copywriting intern. I’m doing actual copywriting work and those tasks can look kind of different every day. Sometimes I’m working on social media posts, the language for the posts. Sometimes I’m working on website copy or a script for an advertisement or explainer video or something like that. It’s a little different day-to-day, which is kind of cool. It depends of the project and the team I’m working with.

Was it what you expected?

I didn’t really know what to expect because marketing and advertising was not really a world I imagined myself pursuing at all. I didn’t have any expectations and at first I didn’t really like it just because I didn’t know what was going on. I kind of had to learn a new language. It’s a totally different world than academia. But I think not having any expectations was what also led to me liking it. It suddenly kind of clicked that I didn’t need to start out know any marketing lingo or agency practices.

How long did it take you to get in the swing of things since you mentioned not liking it at first?

I would say it took me like a month or so. I had to hop on a few different projects to get a feel for things. All the interns were grouped together and worked on a pitch. Depending on what that project is, you may or may not be doing things at first. Once I broke off the dedicated intern project, I started liking it a lot more. I realized I wasn’t always going to be sitting in on strategy meetings and I started getting to dive in on stuff that was already in creative development. It was mostly an entry anxiety for a foreign industry.

What academic skills have helped you in the job?

In all the other industries I previously worked in, I was so conditioned to turn off creativity at work. I had to leave that at the door so I could answer phone calls, scan bananas, or whatever. Being an English student, and MFA student, workshopping and pay fine attention to language and tone of voice—that’s the kind of stuff that is not so different whether you’re writing an essay, poem, or social media post advertising a product. Since I focus on poetry, if you’re working on a LinkedIn post or a Tweet it might even have the same number of characters as some of the poems I’m workshopping.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned from the internship so far?

Not to sound repetitive, but the idea that I don’t have to turn anything off and view writing as real or not-real work. It is possible to sustain yourself writing without having to teach or sell a New York Times bestseller. That was something I previously thought was no unattainable, but questionable. I was coming at the MFA with this really rough plan: I’ll get my MFA, I’ll teach while I’m finishing my book and trying to get writing fellowships. But there’s a lot out there. Language really matters in the workforce and in the world. Since there’s such a high demand for it in advertising it’s a great place to sustain yourself if you’re an English student or MFA student and you’re really anxious about what the next step is. There are jobs and your skills and your language matter.

Do you have any additional insights into the internship experience?

There’s so much writing work out there and there are so many people who want to fulfill that demand. Internships are the place to start, really. Upward mobility is something to look for in an internship. Yeah, you want to test the waters, but if you end up liking it there could be some job security at the end of the tunnel. Internships, like school, are kind of what you make it. You can ask questions and advocate for a better experience. That would be another piece of advice I have for interns or potential interns. It can be hard to ask questions or advocate for what you want, but you might be surprised by how far you can get.