One of our own South Jersey Writers, Miriam Gilbert, was a contributor to the 6th edition of How to Survive Your Freshman Year. She interviewed college students and graduates last summer, submitted stories, and contributed an essay – “How to Survive Freshman English”.
We asked her to comment on how the opportunity came to her and on the experience.
In August 2019 I joined Writer’s Work, a writer’s platform and submitted my credentials and resume. I also responded to a call for an interviewer/reporter for Hundreds of Heads Publication listed on MediaBistro. The next day I got a call from Alison Cowan, the editor of the book. She liked my portfolio (on my website), my resume, and my experience with college students, and hired me!
The assignment was to interview college students, current and graduates, about their college experience. With a set of guided questions provided by the editor, I interviewed 15 students and submitted lots of stories. I began interviewing 2 days after I got the gig. Did this for two weeks. And I set a new record at the publication for most stories submitted and accepted for publication – 67 stories! Being a college professor made this gig easy. I interviewed students from Penn, Rutgers, Drexel, Boston College, Bucknell, Penn State, University of the Sciences, University of Maryland, and TCNJ.
It was a great experience. Alison Cowan, former NY Times reporter, was great to work with. I was part of her dream team! Alison also asked me to write an article about surviving freshman English/writing. As a former director of a university writing center and English/Writing lecturer, I was happy to do it. My piece “How to Survive Freshman English” is included in the book along with other essays from a variety of higher-education professionals.
It was a great end-of-summer gig!
Having been an academic for over 30 years, with an M.Ed. in Second Language Education, an M.A. in Theology/Ministry and is ABD Th.D. in Christian Spirituality , she had direct experience with the book’s audience. Miriam has taught college academic ESL, first year writing, theology, and religious studies. She is the author of English for Pharmacy Writing and Oral Communication.
Miriam is also an ultrarunner, which means that she has run 100 miles straight – competitively – on multiple occasions! Miriam has also competed in races where the object is to continue for a full day, that is 24 hours. Perhaps this explains why Miriam brings so much energy and discipline to her many projects.
Learn more about Miriam Gilbert, and her writing at her website at:
https://www.miriamdiazgilbert.com/
