Harley Nguyen, ‘21

Harley Nguyen (’21) is a former English major who is now pursuing his Master’s degree in English Literature at the University of Maryland, College Park.

When I entered UMBC, I knew I was going to be an English major despite my first-generation immigrant parents’ protests. I found a lot of joy in literature classes that challenged me to think, speak publicly, and write critically, so I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. I’m a poet at heart, and I was never too interested in having that be my only focus. I enjoy seeing what doing things outside of my purview, like medieval literature or early American literature courses, could do for my writing. My professors celebrated how diverse the literature canon is. Despite being a first-generation college student whose time was fractured by COVID-19 I was able to participate in the many organizations tied to the department, like The Retriever,
English Honors Project, Retriever Poets, and felt supported by the many committed professors
in the department.

There is no neat ending to this story: my graduation was quite haphazard in the midst of the lockdown, and life in my early 20’s has been quite an adventure. My many careers have been food service, nonprofit work in DC, freelance writing and copyediting, and academic publishing. My current adventure is graduate school, getting my Master’s in English Literature at UMD, something I suggest students only do with full funding (as I have done). My future is not set in stone: I can see myself returning to nonprofit, getting my MFA and/or Ph.D., teaching at community colleges, or going back to the corporate world. A lot of the skills I learned at UMBC—how to write well, how to communicate productively with my community—have been crucial for this adventure, but my career options remain open at this stage. Since there is such a variety of career paths open to humanities majors, students have to be resourceful and open-minded about what they can do. Being able to communicate clearly with people is really invaluable.

I owe a lot to Professors Emily K. Yoon, Keegan Finberg, Lia Purpura, Lindsay DiCuirci, and Sharon Tran, who are some of the best people I have ever met. Their commitment to their students and the arduous labor they have done for the department left a lasting impact on what I will do in the future.