HWW Alumni Board Spotlight: Maureen Owens
Meet Maureen Owens, account manager at Carnegie.
As a current member of HWW's alumni board, Maureen consults with the HWW PI and staff on future workshop designs and other programming. Maureen also attended HWW's Career Diversity Summer Workshop in 2018.
Describe Humanities Without Walls in 1-2 sentences.
Humanities Without Walls is a life-changing experience where you have the privilege to be surrounded by like-minded and driven individuals who know exactly what it means to be a graduate student in the humanities and who, like you, are seeking to define their own path and their own journey.
What is one thing you learned at the HWW workshop that impacted your life?
Not only did HWW shape my outlook on career possibilities and trajectories, but it shaped my outlook on what I want/need in my life on a broader scale to be personally and professionally fulfilled. So often many of us who pursue graduate degrees believe that we will have to give up choice/autonomy in where we live and any semblance of a work/life balance to have a career. HWW helped to broaden my perspectives on the value and applicability of a graduate degree in the humanities while also affirming that it is ok and healthy even to have boundaries between my job and personal life.
What advice do you have for workshop participants?
I would encourage workshop participants to enter with an open mind. Be a sponge - soak up the knowledge and experiences of the presenters and your fellow workshop members. You never know which session or speaker will resonate with you. Also, remember to pay it forward - take back the knowledge and experiences from HWW and share them with your program, with your friends, with your co-workers, with your fellow grad students. Be a part of the continuing change and growth within humanity graduate programs.
What was the most memorable part of the HWW workshop?
The most memorable part of the HWW workshop was the day when I finally felt comfortable enough to share with the group that I had already made the decision to leave academia. I felt so supported by and safe around my fellow cohort mates - more so than I had by my former program - that I was able to be vulnerable and share that I knew I was leaving academia and pursuing a different career without fear of being judged or thought of as less than. It felt so empowering to have a room full of people who not only understood what I had been struggling with but also were so kind, receptive, and supportive.