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Megan Breazeale

Professional Portfolio UGIS 157

31 July 2016

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Contents

Elevator Statement …………………………………………...3

Résumé………………………………………………………..4

Writing Sample: Character Deconstruction Essay……………5

Work Contribution: Pharmaceutical Press Flyer……………..10

Journal Reflections……………………………………………12

Professional Contacts…………………………………………19

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Elevator Statement

My name is Megan Breazeale and I’m a senior English major at UC Berkeley. I’m currently

looking for a career that will allow me to use my research and communication skills in a way that

helps others. I recently worked abroad at New Island/Brookside Publishers in Dublin, Ireland for

a summer, where I fine-tuned these and other skills by creating press release flyers, emailing

important clientele, and transcribing historical documents for publication. I work well with

others and am interested in joining an organization that fosters professional development. I’d like

to hear more about the work your company does.

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References

Available upon request

Megan Breazeale

1 (916) 337-2408 ● mbreazeale@berkeley.edu

Education

University of California, Berkeley Aug 2015 – Current

Majoring in English, Expected Graduation Spring 2017; current GPA: 3.7

University College Dublin June – August 2016

Participated in a work and study abroad program; current GPA: 4.0

Sierra College, earned two Associate degrees Aug 2014 – May 2015

AA Arts and Cultures; AS Social and Behavioral Sciences; overall GPA: 4.0

Folsom Lake College Jan 2012 – May 2014

Overall GPA: 3.85

Professional Experience

Publishing Intern June 2016 – Aug 2016

New Island Books/Brookside Representatives, Dublin, Ireland

Duties given on an ad hoc basis and accomplished efficiently. Created press release flyers, communicated information with

important clientele, transcribed historical documents for later publication, and responsible for creation and duplication of

professional documents.

Childcare Provider and Facilities Manager Jan 2015 – Aug 2015

Snap Fitness, El Dorado Hills, CA

Solely responsible for the safety and fun of children from all ages. Maintained and organized paperwork. Updated waivers and

signs. Trained new employees. Professional face of the company.

Personal Services Provider March 2007 – Aug 2015

Folsom and vicinity, CA

Provided a variety of services to local families including house sitting, childcare, and pet care. Managed health, safety, and

security of charges.

Server and Shift Lead July 2009 — July 2011

Creekside Retirement Facility, Folsom, CA

Responsible for all duties related to dining hall set-up, clean-up, meal ordering, and food delivery. Often served as Shift Lead

which required training and oversight of newly hired staff and the ability to solve problems as they arose.

Honors, Activities, and Leadership Experiences

4-Years on High School Honor Roll, Vista Del Lago High School, Folsom, CA

Teacher’s Assistant – English Department, Vista Del Lago High School, Folsom, CA, 2011

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, 2013-15

Publicity Director of the English Undergraduate Association, UC Berkeley, 2015

Volunteered at the Placer County Food Bank, 2015

Skills

Communications – Verbal and Written

Presentations

Research

Social Networking

Attention to Detail

Organization

Team Player

Self-Directed

Self-Starter

Punctual

Proficient with Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop

and Illustrator

Creative Writing

Critical Analysis

Troubleshooting Basic Software

Rapid Skill Acquisition

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Writing Sample

Deconstructing Ruth

Though it’s a novel of intense descriptions and psychological realism, Marilynne

Robinson’s Housekeeping can sometimes veer toward the abstract. One such moment is at the

end of chapter eight, where through manipulating syntax and rhetoric, the main character, Ruth,

reaches the climax of her character arc and embraces an unusual lifestyle. It’s an abstract

moment of thought, symbolizing her movement toward transiency, that starts with Ruth falling in

to what she calls “sleep,” and ends with a complete unawareness of her ordinary and

conventional sister, “and I am sure that she spoke to me in all sober kindness, but I could not

hear a word she said” (174-5). More important than its abnormality is that it is the culmination of

all the previous plot machinations and it sets the course and speed for the rest of the novel.

The passage starts immediately after Ruth and Sylvie return from their adventure on the

lake and in the forest, and introduces Lucille, in person, for the last time in the novel. Lucille

asks her sister where she’s been, and Ruth’s response is to silently think the words, “I began to

say, To the lake, and To the bridge” (174). Ruth, as the first person narrator, capitalizes the word

“To” in both instances of its appearance despite being located in the middle of the sentence. The

capitalization signifies a change in the word’s part of speech. It goes from a verb denoting a noun

to a proper noun. “To the lake” and “To the bridge” are important events to Ruth. As narrator,

she is purposely attempting to catch the reader’s eye to say “look at this experience that

happened” and “important things to follow.”

The important things that follow are what Ruth declares as “dreams” (174). She seems

adamant on the dreamlike quality of what she is experiencing, repeating the words “I dreamed”

at the beginning of each sentence, a rhetoric device known as anaphora (174-5). This gives the

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passage pattern and rhythm, making it seem dreamlike by all rights, but Ruth is a first-person

narrator and is inherently unreliable. What she describes as dreams are things readers have seen

before in the novel; they’re her memories. When she thinks on page 174, “I dreamed that the

bridge was a chute into the lake and that, one after another, handsome trains slid into the lake,”

Ruth is recalling the even that killed her grandfather, abstract because she wasn’t present during

his death, “The train … had pulled more than halfway across the bridge when the engine nosed

over toward the lake and then the rest of the train slid after it” (6). The description of how the

train derailed (“nosed” and “slid”) is compatible with Ruth’s imagination of “a chute.” And then

when she dreams of Sylvie “teaching [her] to walk underwater. … in the slowest waltz” on page

175, that’s a direct reference to the flood from the beginning of the novel wherein, “water

sloshed against the walls like water carried in a bucket. … Sylvie took me by the hands and

pulled me after her through six grand waltz steps” (64). Ruth’s “dream” of her and Sylvie lost in

the dark is, again, an abstract memory of the many times throughout the novel that Sylvie

pedantically tells Ruth how she prefers the dark. Only after this “dream” does Ruth begin to

associate the dark with herself, “I was in shadow” (202). Indicating, through simple placement of

the text, that this moment is important.

Not all Ruth’s memories are abnormal, even though she still considered them “dreams.”

Ruth recalls the moment earlier in chapter eight where she and Sylvie went to the abandoned

house in the forest, “Sylvie and I were looking for the children who lived there, and though we

heard them we could never find them” (174-5). This one stands out the clearest because it was

the most recent. All her thoughts are memories mistakenly taken for dreams. Ruth is, in effect,

answering Lucille’s question posed before she faded away, “Where have you been?” (174). Not

“where were you” or “what were you doing,” but a question that alludes to Ruth’s absence in a

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time and place she should have been. On the surface, Lucille could be asking about her absence

from school, but by its simplicity, that’s probably incorrect. Lucille wants to know where Ruth,

her mind, her soul, or whatever it is that makes her who she was before Sylvie entered her life,

has gone.

These memories described as dreams are Ruth’s way of answering that question. Each

one relates a moment of change in Ruth. It outlines the slow procession of events that got her to

where she currently sat. Furthermore, it is Lucille that proves these are not dreams but instead

Ruth’s mind’s warped way of viewing them that gives them a dreamlike quality. Lucille’s entire

character is based on the fact that she is not an absent-minded transient, “I’m not like that. …

Like Sylvie” (130). Time and again she is seen running away from the strangeness that Sylvie’s

transient lifestyle brings to her conventional one, “I can’t wait till I’m old enough to leave this

place!” (132). Ruth must be awake because a person like Lucille wouldn’t sit and talk to

someone who was sleeping, whether it was her sister or not, “It seemed Lucille was talking to

me” (175).

In this moment, Ruth adopted another aspect of Sylvie’s: taking a mental leave of

absence. It is the defining characteristic of her version of transiency. Sylvie becomes a blank

slate many times in the novel, even in situations of peril, like when Sylvie and Ruth are in the

middle of the lake and seem to be stuck under the bridge. Ruth will call to her, but the response

is always the same, “She did not answer” (166). Earlier, on pages 138-9, when Ruth is faux-

studying, Sylvie goes to read with her and gradually becomes vacant, each sentence is chopped

to the same short length. Then later, when Ruth asks if Sylvie was awake, her response is,

“What? Yes” (139). Short and definitive phrasing leaves no room for questions. This passage is

the physical equivalent to Ruth’s mental description of what happens during these moments of

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departure at the end of chapter eight. Just as Sylvie succumbed to her drifting thoughts, Ruth did

hers, neither asleep nor aware of her present setting. Seeing the physical side of Sylvie’s mental

absence allows the reader to see what it was like for Lucille talking to Ruth when her mental-

presence departed. Vice versa, Ruth’s mental absence seen from the inside allows the reader to

finally understand Sylvie’s inner monologue throughout the novel.

The realization that the last two paragraphs of chapter eight are Ruth’s version of Sylvie’s

transiency throws the passage into a different light, one that mimics Ruth’s mood of

nonchalance. It’s in this passage that Ruth reaches the peak of her struggles and is forced to

make a decision: join Sylvie in transiency, or let Lucille take her away for her “comfort” (175).

Her decision is sealed without conscious thought, but through sentence structure it’s possible to

track the progress of her decision. The passage opens with, “Now, I would have told Lucille, and

I meant to tell her, as soon as I composed my thoughts” (174). This sentence follows the same

ordinary structure that most of the novel exhibits. It’s normal, but quickly thereafter it changes.

The sentences turn to describing her “dreams,” and they take on a leisurely poetic quality

through word choice (“patience,” “grace,” and different variations of “slow”) that ascribe

dreaminess to the memories and thoughts, “To move so slowly needed patience and grace, but

she pulled me after her in the slowest waltz, and our clothes flew like the robes of painted

angels” (175). Being so descriptive gives the passage Romantic qualities which don’t mesh with

the novel’s Realism, once again making this passage stand out in particular, emphasizing its

importance.

However, the tone of the passage once again changes with the syntax. It’s an abrupt

change signaling the tipping point, the moment where Ruth completely embraces transiency.

Where before her sentences moved with her thoughts, suddenly they turn succinct, “It seemed

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Lucille was talking to me. I think she said that I need not stay with Sylvie. I believe she

mentioned my comfort” (175). The quick, near monotone sound created by the similar length of

each sentence gives the passage a decisive and final quality. Ruth’s thoughts went from normal

to surreal to conclusive, following the path of her descent into transiency. This parallels the

subject of her sentences: each dreamlike memory that built her up to become transient. Here,

both the syntax and the subjects are working together to describe Ruth’s character arc to this

point, how she got to where she is, and how she’s fallen in to transiency almost unconsciously.

The passage ends with a final description of Lucille and Ruth’s inability to understand or connect

with her, “her brow was contracted and her eyes were calm, and I am sure that she spoke to me

in all sober kindness, but I could not hear a word she said” (175). It’s the end of the chapter and

the end of their relationship, but it also sets the course of the rest of the novel. Lucille, who

represents normativity and wants nothing to do with transiency, is incomprehensible to Ruth,

who has embraced transiency. That translates to Ruth becoming a true outsider by refusing to

follow the straight and narrow path set down for her by her conventional predecessors. She will

be unable to understand ordinary society. The rest of the novel is dedicated to making this

change in Ruth happen in a roundabout way.

This passage should be considered the climax of the story because of how effectively it

weaves together plot and character. It pulls from the entire text, from plot, and from grammar, to

show poor Ruthie’s unconscious choice of lifestyle. Many of its abnormal qualities, such as its

Romanticism and Ruth’s projection of her thought process onto the sentences, make it stand out

in the book and to the reader. Unlike any other passage in the book, this one summarizes the

past, transforms the present, and paves the way for the future.

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Explanation of the Pharmaceutical Press Flyer

New Island is a dual company. On one hand, it is a premier Irish publishing house. On the other,

it is Brookside: a sales representative for itself and other publishers. Oftentimes I work for the

sales side in tandem with the publishing side. During my fourth week at New Island, my

supervisor asked me to create a flyer detailing the books being published in the Fall by

Pharmaceutical Press, a company that publishes medication texts meant for doctors or medical

students. I created this flyer on Adobe Illustrator, pulling pictures and blurbs from advanced

information sheets found in the office and online. It took two days, but finally it turned out

looking exactly as we wanted. My supervisor will include it in all his book kits and sales

meetings. Unfortunately, because of the size of paper being different in Ireland, when I

transported the flyer in to this portfolio, I was forced to resize the image which made the text and

images blurrier than the original. This was one of many flyers I made for Brookside. Others

include an Autumn Highlights Flyer, which is more detailed than the one above and regrettably

too big to include, and several writing submission forms for our own books to be submitted in to

contests.

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Reflective Journal 1

Through learning of the different frameworks, I was immediately drawn to the Human

Resources leadership frame. Some of my family members have worked in Human Resources, so

I understood and connected with many of its aspect, such as interpersonal relationships and

skills. I’m a strong believer in catering to the needs of the employees and thus encouraging them

to do their best work at full capacity. Making the workplace a pleasurable experience will

produce higher quality work. This worksheet aligned with what I guessed about myself: that I

fall into the Human Resource Frame. Yet, it revealed that even though I lean to the HR side, I

don’t match up perfectly. For example, under my abilities that help me succeed, the HR answer

of “Coach and develop people” was the lowest score. That’s not to say I think I’m bad at that,

but rather I excel significantly more in the other three areas. When all was said and done, my

scores were close, with the largest gap being only five points (17HR vs 11PL). This worksheet

helped me realize that I have a division between my skills and my interests. I have the proper

skills to succeed in any frame work, especially Structural, but I am more interested in the

relationship between an organization and its employees.

As a culture, the people in Dublin focus on interpersonal relationships, always avoiding

conflict, and seeking to help others. I would place that under the HR Framework. Chronemically,

they are more relaxed with time than we are in the United States, especially in my home where I

was raised very analytically and structurally. Though Dubliners still use time linearly and expect

you to be there if you say you are, they’re also always running late (as in Berkeley Time™). Yet

they mean no disrespect. Ireland also works through the Symbolic Framework. They are often

telling stories to inspire others, even (and I was told this explicitly) if it gets in the way of the

truth. They like to find a personal connection with each other, which looks to be a good omen for

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me and my interpersonal interests. My co-workers at New Island fall in to this same category of

a mix between HR and Symbolic. They take care of each other, tell stories, and inspire one

another.

Reflective Journal 2

As a general rule, I try not to sacrifice my needs to obtain something else, yet inevitably

it happens. When I was in high school, one of the most important things in the world to me was

to fit in and belong. I wanted to be different and my own person, but I needed people to like me.

I needed companionship. I began to prioritize the Love and Belonging Need from Maslow’s

Hierarchy over other needs. To fit in, I began to participate in the dumb teenager shenanigans

many of my peers did, such as staying out late and lying to my parents about where I was going.

Once, I put myself in serious danger by walking alone in the middle of the night in my somewhat

dangerous home city, thus sacrificing my physiological safety just so I wouldn’t be excluded

from what my friends were doing. I was afraid, but I pretended like it didn’t matter – anything to

match with my teenaged peers. It turned out okay in the end for me, but I know so many young

girls that were not as lucky. The online quiz made me choose between two needs to decide which

was taking precedence and which was being sacrificed. Much like my past experiences,

sometimes I chose wrong. Though it is not always clear what we are sacrificing, the

consequences still exist and can negatively affect our lives.

Maslow’s Hierarchy helps me understand what my priorities should be in life by helping

me recognize my needs in any given situation. It assists in how I should organize my life and

how others should organize theirs. If something is wrong with my friend or co-worker, by

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looking at their life and their recent sacrifices/losses, it’s possible to understand the root of a

problem and how to fix it. Though real life is more complex than a pyramid, Maslow’s hierarchy

is very helpful.

Reflective Journal 3

Rich Alexander’s Managing Your Boss video was enlightening and helpful. My current

supervisor at New Island Publishing is kind, simple, polite, and I’ve enjoyed my time with him,

so it was difficult for me to understand why I have felt as if my expectations have not always

aligned with his. Before watching this video, I would solve our miscommunications with

patience and queries for explanation. My first instinct is to say that Alexander’s first tip of

“clarifying roles and expectations” is the most useful, especially in my situation where my

supervisor is more placid than comprehensible, but that’s not necessarily the case. After thinking

it over, I realized that I have been asking for clarification and going through expectations with

my supervisor on a near daily basis and nothing has changed. The first tip cures a symptom, not

the problem. After reconsidering, I believe it’s Alexander’s fourth tip that is crucial to boss-

employee relationships that are anything like mine: earn your boss’s trust, know their priorities

and pressures, and be available on their terms. By keeping in mind the workload and time

restraints my supervisor has, it’s easier for me to understand where he come from in his oft-

vague instructions and frequent absences. Instead of bombarding him with requests for projects, I

now keep myself available to him while doing background work. Sometimes I’ll seek tasks from

another co-worker. Our relationship has kept its easy-going nature, and there is less stress on him

from me and less stress on me from lack of responsibilities from him.

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One of Rich Alexander’s tips that are less useful in my current workplace is his third tip:

keep your boss in the loop. Because New Island is so small and everyone’s work overlaps, it’s

impossible not to be in the loop. The most I ever have to do is say across the room, “I’ve just

sent you an email,” so he knows to check and continue with the flow of the work.

My supervisor’s laid-back attitude to combat his stress is different than the attitudes my

past supervisors had in America. Things are more structured back home and I would feel less

awkward about asking for feedback or clarifying roles. But in Dublin, where my co-workers

come and go as they please, it’s strange to take the lead in managing my boss because they only

speak vaguely and their availability is chaotic in nature. In America, I can see how all these tips

are useful, but in Dublin, parts of each tip fall short while the other parts overshoot.

Reflective Journal 4

There have been few leaders in my life that have stuck out as strongly as my high school

English teacher named Mrs. Mann. She did more than educate her students. She was able to

transform our classroom into a place of growth and thought. Though it is a teacher’s job to lead

their students, Mrs. Mann took that responsibility to the next level. Looking back after this class,

I can see how her leadership was so effective that I still think about it five years later. Mrs. Mann

combined multiple frames of leadership to be effective, which Bolman and Deal claim is what

the best leaders do (369). She was the architect of our classroom, using analysis when dealing

with unpredictable situations and in the coursework itself—which are two aspects of a good

leader under the Structural frame (Bolman and Deal 355). She also embodied the best leadership

qualities that fall under the Human Resources and Political frames; she was a catalyst to our

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productivity, supported us through all our projects and personal growth, advocated for us against

ourselves and our (low) self-esteems, and encouraged coalition building through playing games

and putting us on teams that supported one another. The fact that she inspired me to be an

English major and that I still hold her up as the greatest teacher ever proves that she was able to

embody the fourth leadership frame practices, too.

The answer to whether leaders need particular attributes for their particular sectors is a

resounding no. It’s my understanding that the best leadership process occurs ad hoc; that is,

leadership changes depending on the situation. If a problem arises between employees, it takes

someone who knows about HR to fix it. If productivity is dropping because communication is

breaking down between the levels, a leader should understand Structural leadership and design.

These can happen in any sector. According to Reframing Organizations, there are universal

qualities all leaders should be: “trustworthy, planful, positive, motivating, decisive, and

intelligent” (348). Karen Brady needed a leadership process from all four frames to fix

unmotivated employees and do a “complete turnaround from the start, profile, marketing.” She

needed HR and Symbolic frames to motivate her employees, and Structural and Political frames

to reorganize and restructure the business while keeping on the newly motivated employees.

From Jane Lampan’s article on non-profit leaders, Tom Tierney is quoted saying that leadership

comes from outstanding people. Outstanding people are people who have the universal

leadership qualities. Non-profit, government, and corporate institutions may be predisposed to

certain types of problems that require certain types of leaders, but they are not exempt from all

problems, and the best leaders can perform under all frames and therefore, should not adopt

preferences.

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Reflective Journal 5

After working in the publishing industry for several weeks now, I realize it may not be

the career path I want to take. There is no changing my love for books and I’m so satisfied to

have had the chance to see and be involved in the process of creating books. But it’s a quiet

business. The New Island Press office is quiet. The people are quiet. The books are silent. It’s an

unfortunate requirement for working in a book-related field. Everyone has been shushed in a

library. Everyone knows the annoyance that arises when they are trying to read and someone

obnoxious decides to make a lot of noise. Books require silence. I enjoy this in my free time and

I respect the silence of books and what it can do to the mind, but working as an intern at New

Island it became clear that books are also repetitive. Books can be dull, strange, disturbingly

horrible, etc. Others in New Island have had the opportunity to leave the office and go to “reps”

– the industry term for “representing” or selling the book to bookstores for public consumption.

Myself and a few others like Aisling, the financial director, Justin, the in-house editor, and Dan,

the commissioning editor, are stuck behind our desks all day, staring at computer screens. The

silence only breaks when communication is necessary for business. From past jobs in the service

industry, I know that service is not my place either, but there was a single aspect that I enjoyed

then and am sorely missing now: people. New Island is great, and what makes it great to me is

the people I work with. Once I leave Dublin and New Island, I want to look for a professional

job in an industry more involved with people. Through this internship and introspection, I’ve

realized that I want to research and try Human Resources or Public Relations. This has been an

invaluable learning experience that has put me on a better path.

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Reflective Journal 6

Being surrounded by books daily will sometimes make the work day feel a little less like

work. I’ve been reading since I was strong enough to hold a book and sitting in the center of ten

bookcases packed full is comforting and nostalgic. Yet, there is a distinctive feeling of

professionalism saturated in these books and the New Island office. It’s not a feeling that comes

from the books, or the publishing process, but the people. When my co-worker Shauna begged

my other co-worker Hannah to let her give a book for free to a blind man who needed an e-copy,

Hannah kept professionalism and reminded Shauna that New Island is first and foremost a

business that needs to make money. When my co-worker Dan was going through submissions

with me, he reminded me that the submissions are New Island’s capital and there is a line that

must be blurred at times between good literature and literature that sells. There are times New

Island purposely publishes a book like the Maggie Thatcher Colouring Book because it generates

income. Then there are times when New Island publishes a book like The Long Gaze Back: Short

Stories by Irish Women Writers because of its literary value and award potentiality. This is a

business made in to a business because of the people. In an ideal world we would give the blind

man a free book and only publish books that deserve a place on a bookshelf. It comes down to

the people in the business to make it a business. It’s more than simply completing tasks and

doing grunt work. The way the employees regard the business generates professionality and

profit. Their attitudes towards professionalism have helped me foster and understand my own.

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Professional Contacts

Michael Darcy – Sales Director; Brookside; Michael is my supervisor, and we met the first week

of the program when I went in for an interview. We have been working in close quarters

ever since. Because of his position as a sales representative in the company, he is the face

of Brookside, and New Island by extension. He knows many people and would be happy

to connect me with them in the future if I need a job or any further connections.

Shauna Daly – Sales and Editorial Assistant; Brookside and New Island; Shauna was the most

recently hired employee. She came on after another employee left for maternity leave. I

met her the same day I went for my interview, and we work together on many projects.

She’s taught me the most about publishing through kindness and patience and would be a

great addition to my network for the same reasons as Michael: she is a sales

representative and knows more people in the business than anyone else.

Dan Bolger – Commissioning Editor; New Island; Dan is the one the chooses what books we

will publish. He is responsible for what image New Island takes on. Dan has taught me

how to tell when a book is good or not. He’s taught me to be critical. I met him the day of

my interview and have since been sending him near daily emails or taking to him in

person about our online submissions, of which I am solely responsible for. He knows my

critical thinking skills and can give a good reference and connect me with the best people

in the editing world.

Hannah Shorten – Marketing Director; New Island and Brookside; Hannah is responsible for

deciding our marketing techniques, directing jacket creation, designing press releases,

and more. Hannah is often the one that oversees my work and answers many of my

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questions. She could give me a good reference and connect me with people in the

marketing world.

Justin Corfield – In-house Editor; New Island; I met Justin the same day I went in for my

interview. Though we never worked in close contact, we often spoke, and I interviewed

him for the career interview. We have come to know each well throughout my time at

New Island and he would be able to give me a great reference. Not only that, but he is a

good connection to have for my own interest in becoming an editor or writing my own

book. He can offer advice and guidance.

Esther Waters – Workplace intern; New Island and Brookside; Esther and I met the second day I

worked in the office. She was the other intern and was the one to show me how to do

most of the technical work, like how to work the Franking machine and how to create

newsletters. She recently left New Island to move to London and work at a different

publishing house where she will prosper. Esther and I got along well and if I decide to

pursue publishing, she will be an invaluable connection and international relation for me

to work alongside with because of her friendliness and inclination to help.

Aisling Higgins – Financial Director; New Island and Brookside; I met Aisling when I went in

for my interview. Though our work rarely overlaps, we have talked a lot and she is there

to help me whenever I encounter problems with money—whether that is when I need

cash to run to the store to pick up more copy-paper, or when I need to answer an email

regarding pricing for the most recent advertisement. Aisling will be a great character

reference for my future, and she will have wonderful advice should I ever decide to

pursue a career closer to her own.

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Sean Smith – Copy-Edit intern; New Island; Sean started working at New Island in my fourth

week. He works closely with Dan and Justin on editing the manuscripts set to publish. I

work with him on submissions, and we offer each other advice on business matters. With

him, my role with Esther was revered and I was able to show him the ropes. We became

fast friends. Much like Justin, he will prove invaluable for my future in editing. Though

he has less experience than Justin, he, too, can offer advice and guidance.

Edwin Higel – Managing Director; New Island and Brookside; Edwin is often away to Germany

or London, but he does come to Dublin on the rare occasion. We first met in my third

week at New Island. I never had direct communication with him beyond our introduction,

a few kind greetings, and one or two shared jokes, but he did see the result of my work

and give me suggestions by having Shauna tell me what he said. It was a roundabout way

to work with him, but he now knows the quality of my work and remembers my name.

Should I ever need anything to do with publishing, managing, business, or books in the

future, Edwin would be pleased to do it.

Mariel Deegan – Marketing Manager; Brookside; Mariel recently left New Island for maternity

leave, but she returns every now and again with her son in tow to check on the work she

cares for so much. We met in my second week. She is a kind woman who was able to

understand me and my motivations quickly. Though she is out of the office, New Island

still sends her bits of work or questions through email. Sometimes I will send her flyers

for approval, or I make suggestions for jacket designs which Shauna then sends to Mariel

for her consent. Like Edwin, she has seen the quality of my work even when we don’t

work in close quarters. She can give me direction for the future and a strong

recommendation.