Seth Fein graduated in 2001 with a B.A. in Rhetoric. He is the founder and publisher of Smile Politely, an online magazine devoted to exposing culture in Champaign-Urbana since 2007. He also started and still produces the Pygmalion Music Festival, which is in its 10th year. In 2013, he partnered with the College of English to help develop a sister Literature Festival that will continue into 2014...

Not many kids dream of being copywriters. If they did, you’d see a lot more seven-year-olds drinking bourbon and muttering about clients at snack time. I didn’t want to be anything but a wizard until the age of eleven (I gave up after my Hogwarts letter didn’t come), and a professional writer after that (the next best thing – but not really) which eventually led to my enrollment at the U of I in...

Kari Piwoni graduated with her Bachelors in English in May 2007 and graduated with her Masters in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from UIUC in December 2008. Upon completion she joined a Leadership Development Program with Raytheon Company and lived in Boston, MA; Tampa, FL; and Tucson, AZ while completing various assignments for the program. She currently lives in Portland, OR working...

As my status as a senior and, therefore, a soon-to-be graduate of the University of Illinois dawned on me less than a year ago, the frantic pursuit of post-graduate plans began. Fortunately, the University of Illinois provides countless resources for undergraduate students to plan and pursue careers. Even more fortunately, I ultimately found my most valuable resource within the English department...

Ryan Suffern has worked on films of all kinds over the past 13 years, starting with the independent film community in Chicago, and later, serving as an assistant to Steven Spielberg. Ryan has worn many different hats as a filmmaker— be it writer, director, producer, or editor; and in 2006, he began his own production company, Suckatash Productions. In addition to serving as his on-set assistant...