Creative Writing alum Gwen Lewis (C'14) is featured in Penn Arts & Sciences at Work, a photoblog project highlighting the diverse career paths of Penn alumni.
Lewis is the senior product manager for the story team at The New York Times. She talks about how the unique opportunities made possible by the Creative Writing Program and the Kelly Writers House prepared her for a career at the intersection of journalism and tech:
"At Penn I was an English major. I worked at the Kelly Writers House. I took a bunch of classes in the Kelly Writers House and was taught by amazing professors. The conversations that we had around writing and reading in my classes, and the writing that I did myself—they helped me to officially see myself as a writer. Friends who went to other colleges didn’t get to do the types of projects that I got to do at Penn. They didn’t get to meet the types of writers and people who I got to meet. It provided me with actual skills that make me confident in the caliber of my writing.
I know people don’t encourage majors like English now—it wasn’t too different when I went to college—but at a school like Penn, you absolutely have to study what you care about and what makes you happy."