CATCHING UP WITH ALEX ABRAMS (M.A. ’15), COMMUNICATIONS
AND MARKETING SPECIALIST AT UNC GREENSBORO

Continuing with our focus upon graduate English alumni pursuing exciting alt-ac careers, we are very happy to post this interview with Alex Abrams (M.A. ’15). Since graduating, Alex has worked in professional editing and communications positions with a number of universities – Oklahoma State University, Wake Forest University (NC), and now UNC Greensboro. When we corresponded with Alex earlier this year, he updated us on his most recent position as Communications and Marketing Specialist with the School of Nursing at UNC Greensboro. In addition, Alex provided some information about his own path to a successful non-teaching career as well as his recommendation for some good reading – a true-crime book that focuses, in part, on the author Harper Lee.
What has been the most interesting professional experience you’ve had in the past year?
In March of 2019, I accepted a position as the Communications and Marketing Specialist for UNC Greensboro’s School of Nursing. Growing up, I watched as my mother – a college dropout – went back to school to become a registered nurse. I often had to accompany her to her nursing classes as a kid. Later, when she became a single mom, she took me along with her as she visited patients at their homes. My mother eventually earned her Master’s degree from Emory University and accomplished her dream of becoming a gerontological nurse practitioner. A few months after I started at UNCG, a faculty member asked if I’d speak at a conference and give a presentation on the importance of nurses having a presence on social media. As it turned out, the conference was for gerontological nurse practitioners. There was something special about being invited to speak to a room full of individuals just like my mother.

Alex with Colleagues from UNC Greensboro’s School of Nursing
What is the most crucial advice – especially with regard to developing or promoting one’s professional skills – that you can give our current graduate students in English before they go on the academic and/or alt-ac job market?
I get annoyed any time I hear someone suggest that the only thing a person with an English degree can do is teach. . . . If you can write, edit, think critically, and meet tight deadlines, there are tons of companies, charities, government organizations, and universities that will hire you.

What is one author, book, website, or movie you’d recommend, and why?
