Between classes: Seymour Berg

Seymour Berg

is a will-be.

Education:
Print Futures: Professional Writing, 2009

Currently:
I'm fulfilling the program's work requirement this summer as a co-op student with the provincial government in Victoria. I'm working as a writer for the Court Services Branch of the Ministry of Attorney General.

Career Goals:
For now, I'm pretty happy making $20 bucks an hour for the summer while I also get to try out everything I've been learning! There are lots of opportunities with the BC government these days, which is great. But Print Futures is giving me a broad skill-set, so I'm going to keep exploring my options.

The first thing I do every morning is  

have a coffee and read  the newspaper. I like to start the day slowly, and a full-time job is relaxing compared to being in Print Futures. I try to get to the gym at least three times a week because I know being fitter helps get me through the day. Come September that will be even more important.

One thing I do

that not many people know is play Go. Go is totally unrelated to writing. It is a strategy game for two players that's older and better than chess. I've been playing for over 20 years, and I've made some great friends through Go. Playing someone for the first time is like meeting a mind across the go board - you don't even need to share a language.

The hardest thing about College is

the workload, and being away from home, which is in Victoria. I don't regret choosing Print Futures or Douglas one bit, but I don't make it home as often as I'd like to.

The best thing about College is

all the work that you do helps you become a ready-to-be-employed writer with the skills to drop into pretty much any writing situation. The program is great because the more you're ready to put in, the more you're going to get out. You can't ask for more than that from a program - the rest is up to you. Print Futures provides you with a lot, and it asks a lot in return.

One great thing about Print Futures

The most important thing I am learning

is the people, especially the students. We're all in the same boat and there's even lots of support from second years, as well as visits from graduates. The varieties of ages, backgrounds, writing experience, life experience, as well as future goals really add to the overall experience.

is how to think like a writer, like someone who uses language to communicate. Not only uses language, but masters the uses of language for specific purposes. And I'm acquiring quite the writer's toolkit: rhetorical approaches such as theories of persuasion, ways to analyze a piece of writing as piece of communications, as well as much about the craft of writing.

On the job, learning is not the point

I feel ready for the workplace

rather, it's getting the task completed. Sometimes getting the task completed has nothing to do with what you learned in school or what you did to get good grades; nevertheless, that's what you need to do to get the job done. Other times, my training is so relevant, it's like I'm being paid to repeat an assignment!

because Print Futures provides courses on everything from writing, editing and design to interpersonal relations in the workplace to representing myself as a professional. And the work placement is invaluable. Overall, I'd say that the program does a great job of turning wanna-bes in to will-bes.

Links

Print Futures: Professional Writing
Information Sessions
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