I entered UHCL’s graduate program in literature in almost accidental fashion, with no clear sense of what the program would entail and no clear intentions of turning literature into any kind of a career. To be honest, literature’s reputation as an impractical major for dilettantes appealed to my contrarian nature at the time. It was 1993, the economy was in recession, and I had been having trouble finding a job. It would have made a lot more sense for me to go to law school or graduate business school, so that’s exactly what I did not do. 

I did have a few practical goals in mind. I felt as if I had not taken full advantage of my undergraduate education, and I wanted to make up some of the deficits in my knowledge of the arts and human culture.  In short, I wanted to read a lot more. Because I was looking for work as a writer or editor, I also had a vague idea that a graduate degree in literature would help sharpen my skills and improve my marketability in the publishing field. These goals turned out to be sound reasons to study literature at UHCL, but I also discovered new reasons to study literature with every course I took, every book I read, and every paper I wrote.

My initial, rather casual attitude toward the study of literature changed quickly after taking Dr. Mieszkowski’s Spencer and Milton seminar as my first graduate class. I read late into the night, immersing myself in dense layers of allegory and allusion.  I spouted lines of medieval poetry in my sleep (or so I was told). It was a challenging course, but the atmosphere remained relaxed and welcoming.  I found this to be the case with most of the classes I took while pursuing my MA at UHCL.  The professors maintained rigorous standards and chose challenging texts, yet the atmosphere was always friendly and non-threatening. At UHCL, I found a community of kindred souls, contrarian types who enjoyed literature for its own self-evident rewards and pleasures.

Although I began the program with no real aspirations toward a career in literature, my passion for the subject and the knowledge I gained at UHCL began to pay immediate dividends. I found regular work editing, first for a scholarly literature journal published by UTMB and later for the Houston Chronicle. In both positions, I greatly benefited from the research and writing skills gained through my studies at UHCL.

After taking the class in Spenser and Milton, I focused almost exclusively on American literature, so most of my classes were with John Gorman and Craig White. I enjoyed the contrasting teaching styles of these two professors, and it has helped me to understand that not all great teachers are cut from the same cloth. There is room for a wide variety of styles; in fact, the variety of students and the varied approaches to studying literature almost demand it.  I especially enjoyed Dr. White’s open and casual classroom atmosphere, which belied his insistence on follow-through and textual support. Often I found myself making casual claims, only to have Dr. White ask for elaboration and evidence.  I thank him for putting me on the spot and not letting me get away with some rather lightweight unsupported claims. Such is the nature of true scholarship. I also appreciated Dr. White’s willingness to employ popular culture to illustrate pervasive aesthetic ideas and constructs. I remember a class in American romanticism in which he showed both a cartoon version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (with Goofy as Ichabod Crane) and the film Working Girl. Although at the time I wondered silently about the value of these clips, the images have stuck with me through the years as I have thought about romanticism and the Hollywood version of American life. This perhaps should demonstrate how the effects of certain classroom approaches may continue to pay off years beyond the initial contact, as a student progresses and interacts with his own stored knowledge in new ways. This notion, coupled with the benefit of having many hands-on editing sessions with Dr. White, has helped me more than anything in my approach to teaching writing. I know that I cannot teach a student to write in a semester, but I can try to get them thinking about writing in new ways, so that they may continue to improve on their own as they become more conscious of their own learning process.   

I graduated from UHCL’s M.A. literature program in the summer of 1996 and immediately found adjunct teaching assignments at San Jacinto College and Texas A&M University in Galveston. Through 2002, I continued to teach as an adjunct at San Jacinto College while working as a technical editor and writer for the Lunar and Planetary Institute, a NASA research contractor.  Again, I found the writing and research skills I learned at UHCL to be invaluable in my job as a technical editor, and I enjoyed teaching evening classes as a way of supplementing my income while getting paid to study and discuss literature.  As an adjunct instructor, I taught a variety of courses, including freshman composition, technical writing, and British Literature.

In 2002, I embarked on a full-time teaching career when I was hired by Texas Southern University to teach developmental English. I moved on two years later to accept a position at College of the Mainland in Texas City, where in addition to the core composition courses I have taught creative writing and American literature. The literature program’s variety of course offerings and broad approach to the study of literature has served me well in the community college environment, where being a generalist has definite advantages.   I have continued to take occasional graduate courses at UHCL, partly for professional development but mostly because I have missed the intellectual stimulation afforded by the graduate seminar environment. 

While teaching has been my focus in recent years, I continue to pursue my own interests in writing. I authored a reference book, Titanic in Print and On Screen, that was published by McFarland in 2005, and I continue to write and publish essays and short stories.

All in all, I would say that my decision to study literature at UHCL, although made without any real foresight or planning in mind, has paid dividends way beyond my expectations. 

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