Memorandum Memorandum
Volume 9 Issue 1 Article 1
2022
Memorandum 9.1 (Complete Issue) Memorandum 9.1 (Complete Issue)
Memorandum Staff
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MEMORANDUM
Journalism & Professional Writing ... 3
What is Markdown? ................... 5
UAB’s “New Normal” .................. 6
The Value of Internships ............ 8
How my PW Classes Prepared Me .... 10
UAB’s Professional Writing &
Rhetoric and Composition Magazine
IS PUBLISHED BY
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
PROFESSIONAL WRITING PROGRAM
IN COOPERATION WITH
THE UAB ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
PLEASE DIRECT QUESTIONS, COMMENTS,
AND SUGGESTIONS TO:
Jeffrey A. Bacha, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of English
205.996.5328
Copyright © 2022 UAB English Department
Cover by Sam Smith
Publicaiton design by Olivia Hall
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Welcome to the ninth volume of MEMORANDUM. In this Issue,
Annie Swantek describes her experiences working as a
technical writing at UAB’s Computer Forensics Research
Lab. John Channell introduces Markdown and explains why
it is a necessary skill for professional writers. Taylor
Hanson looks at the connection between professional
writing and journalism. Lainey Hardiman explains how her
professional writing classes helped prepare her for an
internship at GirlSpring. And, Jazzlyn Miller provides
a look at the struggles non-traditional students had to
overcoming during UAB’s transition to the “New Normal.”
3
MEMORANDUM Volume 9 Issue 1
Journalism & Professional Writing
By Taylor Hanson
“I am nally out of college, ready to build a career as a
writer, and start a new chapter in my life.” is is what
many aspiring professional writers say as they take their
rst steps towards building their career. But what does
a career for a journalist and aspiring writer look like?
Before taking these initial steps, it is important to
know how to start a career and the requirements,
and duties. I decided to research what kind of jobs
are available for journalism and creative writing,
as well as the requirements they prefer.
I found that being familiar with other writers and their
work improves your own. Performing marketing and
editing tasks to get a book published, as well as work with
co-writers and editors is important for development.
LIFE AS A WRITER
I conducted an interview
with a relative, Becca, who
has two books published
and a lot of experience
in performing duties as a
writer. Her occupation is
a sociologist who conducts
qualitative research. In
this career, one must
perform a lot of data
analysis and writing based
on the data collected while
conducting research.
“I received training in my master’s program in
Social Sciences at the University of Chicago and
my PhD program in Sociology at University of
Georgia,” Becca explained. ese were the rst
steps in her career in research and data analysis,
and how to publish about her research.
According to Becca, she did not receive very much
training on how to write books in these programs.
Instead, she learned how to write by, “looking at other
authors I admired, reading their books not only with an
eye towards substance but structure and style.” She also
mentioned that co-authoring has been extremely helpful
to her as it has allowed her to work with others in her
field with more experience and learn how they write.
“At the end of the day, writing is about producing a
lot of material you will never use, editing, writing, and
rewriting. It is having the patience and commitment
to return to the same chapters over and over again
to improve phrasing, organization, and flow.”
Becca informed me that academic publishing is
different from fiction or non-academic publishing.
For her publishing process, Becca prepares a book
prospectus consisting of 5 to 10 pages, which provides
a summary of the book’s arguments, a breakdown of
its chapters, presentation of the book’s contributions
relating to other scholars, and finally, a biographical
sketch that positions her as an expert in her field.
During the interview I learned that having connections
with editors helps the publishing process. Becca met two
editors that she often works with at academic conferences,
and she has cultivated a relationship with another editor
over the span of many years. In her explanation of how
she got her books published, Becca informed me, “Once
you have a contract with a book publisher, it is completely
up to you to produce a manuscript that can be sent out
for review. So, it is important to be well-organized and
plan ahead so you can complete the project on time.”
Becca’s advice for future job seekers? “Get involved
in groups and events that are organized around
your profession of interest as soon as you can.”
4
MEMORANDUM Volume 9 Issue 1
JOB SEARCHING
I wanted to see what kinds of jobs might be
available to aspiring writers, so I researched
job advertisements on Indeed.com, Salary.
com and Simplyhired.com, which are highly
recommended sites for job-searching.
General Assignment Reporter for 1819 News,
one of the positions on their site, requires 3 to 5 years
of experience covering news for online publication, a
bachelor’s degree in journalism (preferred but not required),
and experience in journalism (three years is preferred).
Tasks include writing stories to attract readers to expand
1819 News, collaborating with editors, and producing
dierent news features as well as analysis of complex issues.
Digital Copywriter with Strong Automotive
Merchandising, the second job advertisement I found,
requires a bachelor’s degree in English, journalism or
writing. e employers prefer their applicants to have at
least one year of experience in copywriting. Employees
will perform responsibilities such as creating blog posts,
working closely with Content Marketing Coordinators,
proofreading, and editing content, and digital reporting.
e last job I found was a novel writing job for
eGlobal Creative Publishing, requiring no prior
experience except writing. Tasks include writing
about fantasy, ction, romance, video games,
LGBTQ+ issues, and many more topics.
Finding the right information to pursue a career is
essential for me as a creative writing major and aspiring
journalist, but also for other careers. Pursuing a career
requires doing research early to make sure you are taking
the steps to meet your goals. It’s helpful to know what jobs
are available, what’s required to obtain them, and the tasks
you will perform to make sure the job ts your interest.
I had diculty nding the exact jobs that t a creative
writing concentration during my analysis. I learned
not only that there are many dierent careers for
writing, but many that require dierent expertise.
USING WHAT YOU KNOW
After my research, I now know what a creative writer
and aspiring journalist may need to focus their
degree on, what duties will be performed in a job
as a professional writer, and what career paths are
available. I also discovered how to gain meaningful
connections and successfully navigate my way
through the writing industry. In all, I believe this
process provides clarity, understanding, and self-
discovery. I was able to discover what kind of future
I can have, as well as how to pursue it correctly.
Before conducting research for this article, I was unsure
of what it meant to be a journalist, and even less sure
of what kind of journalist I wanted to be. Following
Becca’s advice, making connections, staying consistent
and dedicated, and preparing to create a lot of content
to continuously recreate will help me and anyone
in this occupation become successful as a writer.
I hope this helps anyone wanting to pursue a
professional writing career. These steps I took to
gain a better understanding of what a writing career
looks like and how to obtain it are helpful steps for
anyone searching for a career. Job sites such as Indeed.
com and Simplyhired.com are helpful sites to find
job advertisements, but there are many other sites
available if those do not meet your expectations.
Gain connections and ask your teachers for advice
on achieving a successful writing career. “Talking
with people working towards the same goals, or
people who are already working in the profession,
helps you prepare but also develop networks
and a base of support.” (Becca Hanson).
At the end of the day, writing
is about producing a lot of
material you will never use,
editing, writing, and rewriting.
5
MEMORANDUM Volume 9 Issue 1
What is Markdown?
By John Channell
Markdown is a Markup language, which may seem
confusing from the name of the language. Like
HTML, Markdown is a language used to better
format information for the general consumer.
A few reasons why Markdown is important in the grand
scheme of professional writing is the ability to post
information to website applications such as WordPress. For
the coding, websites such as GitHub will use Markdown
as the general le language to brief the users on what
exactly they are looking at. Including more information,
this article will also have a small tutorial so you can
familiarize yourself with the Markdown language.
e most common editor for the Markdown language
is known as the What You See Is What You Get
(WYSIWYG). is is used by websites such as WordPress
and is a handy tool for looking to get content out quickly.
Alongside WordPress, many websites such as Reddit or
Discord will also use Markdown, or a generalized version
of it, to help users get their point across. Coding software
including Visual Studio Code, Atom, Sublime Text,
and even something basic like Notepad or TextEdit can
also be used for Markdown. e beauty of Markdown
is how simplistic it is to edit things together. It doesn’t
take hours upon hours of learning a language.
What do you need to get started with Markdown?
Honestly, not much, just some kind of editor and the syntax
(keyword) guide. For better seeing and understanding
Markdown, Dillinger might be your best choice as it is
made precisely for Markdown. For further reading on the
Markdown language, the free and open-source reference
guide will be your best bet. Head to e Markdown
Guide’s website to see more of the entire language.
While looking at Markdown in a code editor, it is
purely what you type in, without much formatting.
If you want to bold some text, you need to put two
`*` characters so the language can interact with it.
e same goes for italics, but that will only require one
`*` character. ese are the simple syntax characters
that you should learn as they might be the most
used characters when writing in Markdown.
anks to the dierent applications, you can write simple
code blocks to make it easier to read, which is why it is
the preferred language of websites such as GitHub.
Within professional writing, learning Markdown can be a
benecial skill. Many publishing websites will most likely
still use Markdown or a version of it. Learning it early can
put you leaps and bounds above some competition that
has not started to delve into the Markdown language.
Next time you’re working on some article, try to
convert it to Markdown if you have free time. Learning
Markdown is one skill you will not regret learning.
6
MEMORANDUM Volume 9 Issue 1
UAB’s “New Normal”
By Jazzlyn Miller
The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for
everyone. Students, including professional writing
students, are no exception. Everyone has had to
adjust to the “new normal”, and institutions like
UAB are attempting to make that adjustment as
comfortable as possible for everyone. However,
in this process, it seems that the difficulties of
some students are not being totally addressed.
Non-traditional students are, exactly like it sounds,
students who do not attend college in the traditional
manner. Some are transfer students, who have attended
either a community college or four-year university
before changing schools to their current university.
Others may be students who chose to live o-campus
rather than in dorms like many undergraduate students.
Many of those reading this article right now may be
non-traditional students, who may feel as though their
struggles have been ignored in this transition period.
Non-traditional students from all backgrounds and
subjects of study have faced their own unique set of
diculties during the pandemic, that often go unseen.
To get more information about how they are being
impacted, I interviewed a few classmates who are
non-traditional students, to see how they have felt
about UAB’s adjustment to life during COVID-19. Of
course, like any group of people, they all had diering
views on some aspects. However, there was a lot of
common ground shared by all of the interviewees.
One of the most cited issues during the pandemic was,
of course, the diculty of remote courses. Most of the
students I interviewed cited an extreme diculty in
transitioning to courses being held online using technology
like Zoom. Despite the seemingly “face-to-face” nature
of video meetings, and the fact that they can be more
amendable to the schedules of o-campus students, many
cited a strong sense of discomfort with taking classes this
way. One of my interviewees, Emma Herr, said “most of
the time it felt alienating and unsatisfying.” is was a
common refrain, many arguing that it made them feel
disengaged from their courses, classmates and professors.
is disconnect didn’t just take an emotional toll on these
students, though that aspect shouldn’t be understated.
It also caused many students to have diculties with
keeping up with their actual coursework. One student,
Andrew Ritchey, discussed diculties with some kinds of
courses being taught remotely. According to him, “[s]ome
classes, such as drawing, are just not easy to teach over a
camera, and as a result, I didn’t learn as well in that class.”
7
MEMORANDUM Volume 9 Issue 1
Not only do some subjects just not translate to
being taught remotely, many of the interview
subjects also cited a requirement of a lot more
initiative from students, which can make
it really easy to get behind on coursework
like readings and homework. is learning
disconnect is a serious problem, that could
have caused some serious gaps in student’s
knowledge about the subjects they study.
is can be compounded by another disconnect,
between students and their professors. Many
students may have problems reaching out
to professors about information they didn’t
understand or confusion they may feel about
a topic. is can be even worse when students
feel they do not know their professors at all,
as in the case of online or remote classes. Since returning
to campus, many of these issues have started to change.
Since we are all on campus full time again at UAB,
there is no need to consider how classes taught over
Zoom aect students. All of the students I interview
also mentioned that their feelings of engagement
increased dramatically after their return to campus. Sonia
Datnow, another student, said that to her returning
to campus felt exactly like it had pre-pandemic.
However, while the circumstances have largely returned
to normal for many students, that does not negate the
impact of the problems caused by the pandemic. While a
return to campus means an increase in student engagement,
a stronger sense of community, much more in-person
instruction, and less Zoom classes, that doesn’t undo
every problem that these students have been facing.
For those that have had diculties with their
coursework caused by remote classes, those gaps in
their knowledge remain. If they passed their classes,
but still have some concepts and ideas that they don’t
grasp, this can cause a problem if that knowledge is
going to be built upon later. is is especially an issue
for many newer college students, who are likely to have
been learning the basics of their subjects of study.
There are also likely many non-traditional students
returning to campus with no ties to any student
organizations, any of their classmates, or to their
professors. While they can begin to build those
connections now—and my interviewees say that
they are—that is still a loss of time in comparison
to students who were able to establish those
connections before the pandemic, and especially
when compared to students who live on campus
and have many more opportunities to engage.
Though non-traditional students are typically not
the students who people think of first, the issues
they face are important to discuss when attempting
to address the issues caused by the pandemic. Not
only do they face the issues already discussed, but
many are returning with increased stressors that make
focusing on coursework and returning to campus even
more difficult than for traditional students, such as
financial difficulties also caused by the pandemic.
In trying to understand the way that the pandemic
affected students, it is necessary that we consider
non-traditional students, their unique struggles,
and the ways that the common issues from
the pandemic are compounded for them.
8
MEMORANDUM Volume 9 Issue 1
The Value of Internships
By Annie Swantek
How far does a bachelor’s degree really go? Many
college students may not consider what they are going
to include on their résumé before creating one. Or they
think that earning a degree and taking courses related
to their desired career eld is enough. Having a college
education is a critical factor on résumé’s, however it
is often not enough to catch an employer’s eye.
WHAT AN EDUCATION IN
ENGLISH BRINGS YOU
Being an English major and a senior at the University
of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), I have been able
to greatly enhance my writing skills, develop other
benecial skills, and gain knowledge on topics I was
previously unaware of. e English Department at the
UAB is well versed and oers its students an exceptional
education. Students striving to earn a Bachelors in
English are oered an amazing range of courses as
well as amazing faculty to teach those courses.
Getting an education in English will prepare students
with the basic skill set and knowledge they need to
succeed in a writing career. However, internships and
part-time jobs while in college are a key factor in a
student’s success with nding a job after graduation.
BEYOND THE DEGREE
If a student majoring in English is planning on
pursuing a writing career or searching for a job in the
communications or writing field, it is beneficial for them
to have experience to put
on their résumé. Having
a bachelor’s degree and
the skills and experience
from UAB’s English
courses are valuable and
important to note when
creating a resume or talking
to future employers.
However, the specic eld of professional writing
requires experience with many dierent applications and
additional skills beyond being able to write remarkably
and eciently. While many professors do inform their
students of this and introduce them to these types of
applications, skills, and tasks that employers require
for any writing position, students often do not get
enough experience to list it on their résumé as a skill.
Having exposure to a professional work environment and
seeing rst-hand the types of tasks that writers complete
is a very benecial experience to have. Actually gaining
experience allows students to go beyond just learning
about it in a classroom and actually living it and doing
hands on work that will help them in the future.
STUDENT INTERNSHIPS & JOBS
Since I am a senior, I have started my job searching
journey. I am mainly looking at Technical Writing, Copy
Writing, Editing, and any related positions. I have noticed
a trend that almost all of the job postings I have looked
at require or strongly prefer for applicants to have a
bachelor’s degree as well as at least 1 year of experience.
Not having job experience does not necessarily mean
that employers will not look at your Résumé or
that you can not nd a good job, it does mean that
having relevant work experience greatly increases
your chances of getting responses from employers
and catching their eye with your résumé.
I am an English major, Business Administration minor
and I am concentrating in professional writing. I knew
that I wanted to pursue a career in professional writing
when I chose my major but did not know the exact steps
I needed to take or how to achieve that. I knew that
my college courses had allowed me to develop valuable
skills, but I was still anxious and worried about nding a
job or being able to succeed at a job after graduation.
9
MEMORANDUM Volume 9 Issue 1
Before the Spring Semester of 2020, I got an email from
the Undergraduate English Majors Resources informing
students of an on campus, part-time, student Technical
Writing position. I gured I would apply for the job and
see what happens because it seemed like a good t, and
I knew that having this experience would look good on
my résumé and better prepare me for the future. I ended
up getting hired at UAB’s Computer Forensics Research
Lab (CFRL) as a Technical Writer, I have about a full
year of experience since I started my junior year and
will be leaving after graduation as it is a student job.
BENEFITS OF STUDENT JOBS
My part time Technical Writing job experience at the
CFRL has allowed me to grow as a writer, editor, and even
as a student and teacher at times. My main task is to review
and edit reports that are written by the lab’s analysts. While
reviewing all reports is the main priority, there are many
other side duties and tasks that come along with being
a Technical Writer. With this specic job I also had to
participate in writing workshops where my supervisor and
I taught lessons to the analysts on how to improve their
writing and what their reports should look like and include.
Teaching writing workshops to the analysts at the lab
was very rewarding and allowed me to grow as a person. I
was tasked with reading the book, Communicating with
Intelligence: Writing and Brieng for National Security
by James S. Major and creating PowerPoint based on
the material in the book. I had never had the experience
of presenting information in this manner or teaching
others how to write. I never enjoyed giving presentations
in school and always preferred to sit quietly and learn
rather than speak up with questions or opinions, this
experience helped me to come out of my shell and feel
more condently about speaking in group settings.
e CFRL writes Intelligence Writing style reports that
are written in a specic format and that get sent out to
clients. I had never seen this particular kind of writing
before and was not very familiar with the subjects of
the reports. However, being able to see other kinds
of writing besides academic writing has broadened
knowledge and skill set. I can now tell future employers
that I have experience with reviewing and editing cyber
crime related reports, even if the company has nothing
to do with computer forensics this still shows them that
I have experience with multiple types of writing styles
and that I can easily adapt to dierent types of content.
Networking is another benet of having internships and
part time jobs while in college. Sometimes acquiring
jobs depends on who you know. If you are working or
interning at a company as a Technical Writer, or related
position, you are likely to meet others with that job
title and similar interests as you. Not only is this a way
to gain friends and socialize with others who may be
similar to you, it is also a way to lead to future jobs.
People at the company may know friends or family
whose company or oce is looking for someone who
can write, they may think about the Technical Writing
intern at their company and give you a referral.
It all comes back to
experience. Having the
experience of being around
dierent types of people
and work environments
gives you the ability to tell
future employers about
it. Maybe your student
job was remote, and you are looking for only remote
positions, now you can tell employers you have excellent
time management skills and work well independently
because you have had the experience of working in a
remote position already. Or, maybe your internship was
in an oce and required a lot of collaborative work,
you now have the ability to show o your ability to
work as a team member in a busy work environment.
Receiving an education at UAB and earning a Bachelors
in English are amazing accomplishments that employers
will be impressed with. However, having internships
and jobs related to your desired eld as a college
student is an extremely valuable experience that will
help you moving forward with your future and career.
10
MEMORANDUM Volume 9 Issue 1
How my PW Classes Prepared Me
By Lainey Hardiman
Four years ago, I never imagined I would graduate
with a degree in English. I wanted to be a high
school math teacher and inspire students to
love math. Writing wasn’t supposed to be my
thing—until I found Professional Writing.
Like you’ll read throughout this magazine, someone with
a Professional Writing degree can achieve more than just
writing. Students can choose a career in digital design,
coding, social media, marketing, publishing, editing; ere
isn’t a limit to what you can do with a degree like this.
is semester, I interned with the non-prot
organization GirlSpring, an online magazine curated
by teen girls, for teen girls. It was an editorial
internship where I read, edited, and published
articles into the organization’s online magazine.
But it wasn’t about individual articles. When editing, I
constantly referenced the overall design of the magazine:
the colors, layout, headings, and images. Each article
had to be cohesive with the whole magazine.
Developing Digital Documents and Digital Publishing
are two professional writing courses oered at UAB that I
took and loved. Developing Digital Documents introduces
students to technologies like Adobe Illustrator, InDesign,
and Photoshop. Each heavily used in the design
world and very helpful for any student.
Digital Publishing provides a basis for
how websites are built and designed.
It introduces students to Adobe
Dreamweaver, HTML, CSS,
and WordPress. Coding is
a big part of this course,
and it is by far my favorite
thing I have learned.
In each class, there are specic rules for everything. We
stress contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity,
or how we like to call it, “CRAP.” Of course, my
mathematical brain loved the rules and how each
perfectly formulated line of code or combination of
design elements joined to create a seamless, overall design.
All these choices combine to help viewers engage with
and read the page or document we design and write.
At GirlSpring, I utilized CRAP every time I edited
an article; I even coded a few links in the captions of
images. My Professional Writing classes taught me
how to write concisely, and I am constantly editing
for clear and concise language in articles to ease
readability. Subheadings have become my best friend
over the semester because of how much they improve
readability and overall ow of the document.
I couldn’t tell you how many times I would preview
one article and then change bullet points or numbered
lists just to allow for easier eye movement down the
page. Just like we learned in class, I think about how
a viewer would experience each article. How would
they receive the information? Would it be engaging
enough to keep them on the page and keep reading?
e decisions I make about the text and design
stem from Developing Digital Documents and
Digital Publishing. Without these two classes I
wouldn’t have started my internship with a leg-up
in navigating WordPress or recognized how valuable
simple design changes are to a website or magazine.
e knowledge I had regarding the digital space
before these classes was close to nothing. I
gained the condence I needed to succeed in my
internship from my experience in both Developing
Digital Documents and Digital Publishing.
