Lauren Saks

Partial Transcript: "I majored in English because it was something my parents were encouraging me to do, it was something I was always good at in high school, and enjoyed doing, especially the Creative Writing part, and Denison's program seemed to be a really good program."

Segment Synopsis: Lauren Saks explains why she double-majored in English and Music Performance, enjoyed David Baker's poetry class, how she was able to study abroad in Amsterdam.

Keywords: American Literature; Amsterdam; Beat Poets; Blake; Creative Writing Track; David Baker; Double-Major; Eastland; English; Literature; Music Performance; Poetry; Senior Writing Project; Study Abroad; Writer; Writing Workshop

Subjects: Authors; Creative Writing; English; Literature; Music; Poetry; Writing

Partial Transcript: "I bar-tended for the first year..."

Segment Synopsis: Lauren briefly touches upon her position as a bar-tender in Chicago, Illinois after graduation, and how she later moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue music full-time.

Keywords: Chicago; Craigslist; English

Subjects: Graduation; Job Search; Post-Graduation

Partial Transcript: "I play violin, and I play in multiple bands down there, and also work at a violin store, and teach a few violin lessons."

Segment Synopsis: Lauren discusses her current professions as a bluegrass violinist as well as a part-time violin teacher at a music store.

Keywords: Bluegrass; Bluegrass Ensemble; Music; Nashville; Tennessee; Violin; Violinist

Subjects: Bluegrass; Genre; Music; Nashville; Violin

Partial Transcript: "I wouldn't say it was a struggle."

Segment Synopsis: Lauren talks about the ease with which she navigated into a budding career as a violinist, the only uncertainty pertaining to considering how she could use the skills she learned from Denison in the real world.

Keywords: Bar-Tending; Denison University; Graduation; Job Search; Nashville; Skills; Uncertainties

Subjects: College; Job Search; Struggle; Uncertainty

Partial Transcript: "Yeah, I do. Most of what I play, I do a lot of improvisation, and I think that creative writing--the process of creative writing, and the fact that you have to trust your voice, and find your voice, and create a story of sorts--is very similar to the process of improvising a solo..."

Segment Synopsis: Lauren makes the connection between improvisation in the creative writing process and improvisation when playing a musical solo.

Keywords: Creative Writing; English; English Degree; Improvisation; Job Skills; Skills; Story; Voice

Subjects: Careers; Creative Writing; English; English Degree; Jobs

Partial Transcript: "Yes. I mean, to go purely musically speaking now, yes, I was not a good improviser when I was at here at Denison, I was, like, super afraid of it."

Segment Synopsis: Lauren talks about how her improvisation skills improved after college, and how getting more involved in jam fests and other gigs boosted her confidence.

Keywords: College; Denison University; English; English Degree; Improvisation; Job Skills; Music; Skills; University

Subjects: Careers; College; English; Jobs; Music; Skills

Partial Transcript: "I do, um, I'm in grad school now for music."

Segment Synopsis: Lauren talks about how her she finds her English degree useful as she writes papers on different works of musical literature in grad school.

Keywords: English; English Degree; English Major; Graduate School; Liberal Arts; Liberal Arts Education; Literature; Music; Perspective; Writing

Subjects: College; Education; English; English Major; Graduate School; Liberal Arts; Writing

Partial Transcript: "Literature is a means of telling a story."

Segment Synopsis: Lauren defines literature and discusses how it relates to her profession as well as how her literary tastes have changed since college.

Keywords: Blues; Blues Musicians; Fiction; Literature; Master's; Non-Fiction; Reading; Story; Storytelling; Thesis

Subjects: Books; Genre; Graduate School; Literature; Music; Reading; Story

Partial Transcript: "I auditioned for grad school... before I moved to Nashville..."

Segment Synopsis: Lauren discusses grad school.

Keywords: Grad School; Graduate School; Nashville

Subjects: College; Grad School; Music; Nashville

Partial Transcript: "Yeah, I would say do it if that's what you like."

Segment Synopsis: Lauren Saks advises prospective English majors.

Keywords: Advice; English; English Degree; English Major; Job Search; Job Search Advice

Subjects: Advice; College; English; English Majors