From Classroom to Career: An Alumni Story with Mica Rich '21

I came to Dean with one goal for my life in mind, to be a writer and book editor, and everyone I met at Dean had a piece in helping me get there. I loved all of my English and writing classes and had great relationships with those professors, who were excited to help me succeed and always had wonderful insight to give. I benefited immensely from the career- and internship-oriented classes in my junior and senior years. But I think the most significant thing that helped me get to where I am was having the ability to create opportunities for myself. In my time at Dean, I was encouraged to write new work and got to practice things like writing the perfect query letter and crafting perfect poetry submissions. I was able to create and maintain great relationships with professors who helped me edit projects in their spare time, and I co-founded and ran the literary magazine, Wrote Unquote, which was a major part of how I got the job I have today.

Today, I have successfully published a handful of poems and short stories in various magazines including Wingless Dreamer's Dark Poetry Collection, The Avocet, and NHPR's National Poetry Month website, I run a freelance book editing business, work full-time as an editorial assistant at a successful publishing house, and my first collection of poetry is due to be published through Barnes and Noble Press later this year.

I am so grateful for the time I had at Dean and for everyone who helped me along the way.

Mica Rich '21
English Major