Michael Fialkowski, ’22
Michael Fialkowski (’22) is a former English major who is now an assistant editor at the Congressional Budget Office.
I entered UMBC’s English department at an uncertain point. It was the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I was making a significant career shift after more than a year in college. Thankfully, my academic outlook changed when I started the Communications and Technology Track. I connected with the courses from the start and was motivated by the professors’ dedication to their work and teaching. I graduated with an internship, confidence in my skills, and work I was proud of and passionate about.
After graduation, I obtained an editing certificate from the University of Chicago Graham School. I also gained professional practice editing exams and training materials at a nonprofit association focused on housing. A year and a half later, I landed my current job as an assistant editor at the Congressional Budget Office, a legislative branch agency that supports Congress with nonpartisan economic analysis.
I have spent the past six months learning to develop reports and other products covering many economic topics, including health care, housing, and climate. I started with proofreading and now edit short reports, presentations, and letters to members of Congress. I also comment on early drafts, edit tables, apply styles to documents, review citations, and fact-check. During downtempo times, I enjoy researching updates to the agency style guide and writing macros that help with the editing process. The work is anything but dry; my editing skills are challenged every day, and I’m always learning as I prepare to take on CBO’s major publications.
Whether writing professionally or creatively, I do my best to represent my work with all my professors and classmates at UMBC. They are the reason I can keep up with my fellow editors. Under Dr. Shipka, I learned to channel my interests into novel research and engage with multimodal communication. Professor Shivnan, Professor Fitzpatrick, and my writing groups gave me an editorial eye and helped me look critically at my work. Professor MacDougall gave me vital experience engaging with authors in the writing center. And Professors Brooks, Rudacille, Burns, and Olson helped me orient myself in an unfamiliar academic space and encouraged me to experiment and find my voice.
