Brittany Cook

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Interviewed December 2016 by Julie Hild '19

I majored in English with a concentration in writing and minored in both history and English literature.

I grew up in Tiffin and every time I would come into town, I would drive through Heidelberg. I loved the ambience, I loved the size, and I loved the community—it was my only choice for my college education.

Ever since I was a kid, I loved to read. It wasn’t until around eighth grade that I started to write, and by the time I had graduated from high school, I knew that was what I wanted to do. I first started studying to become a teacher, but once I learned about all the careers I could pursue as an English major, I changed my major.

I serve as the marketing director for Destination Seneca County, which is the visitors bureau section of the Seneca Regional Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Services.

At a base level, I market the county. I attend conferences and trade shows, organize individual and bus tours, and serve on a number of committees to plan large scale events in both Tiffin and Seneca County. I run the Chamber and DSC websites as well as their Facebook and Twitter. I also write press releases, create billboards, and help create commercials. I also write articles for newspapers and complete both organizations’ monthly newsletters.

At the end of October, the Chamber of Commerce held its annual meeting. During our president and CEO’s speech, he outlined everything the Chamber and DSC has done over the course of the year. Knowing how much we’ve done and the successes we’ve had in the time I’ve been with the Chamber was the most fulfilling part so far.

Majoring in English gave me many of the technical skills I need in my job. All of my classes in technical writing—press releases, articles, copy, even web design—have helped me the most.

Every day!

Every day. At some point, I’m writing posts for our website or our Facebooks, I’m writing articles for a newspaper, or I’m writing reports for a meeting.

Besides contributing to my career, I still write creatively and read outside of work.

I had several jobs: I worked in the library, in the marketing and public relations department, the alumni relations department, the Morpheus, and the Kilikilik. I was in the Concert Choir, the Chamber Singers, and the Singing Collegians. I participated in several musical ensembles. These organizations helped me work creatively with different people, which is definitely something I’ve needed in my career. I also tend to be the person in the office people go to on entertainment issues! I was also a member of the Euglossian Society and an Alpha Phi Tau Lil’ Sis. I was always busy—that taught me how to balance my time and be the most productive in my career. I have so much going on now, if I didn’t learn how to do it in college, I would be totally lost!

Not yet.

Dr. Ruth Wahlstrom. Not only did she push me to be the best writer and the best reader I could be, she also made that stress and struggle worthwhile and fun. I always knew I could go to her with questions, but we also had a good time in our courses together.

Make sure you love writing and reading if you want to major in English. You’ll do a lot of it in your classes, but you’ll do even more in your career. Understand that studying English is one of the broadest majors you can choose. As long as you can write, there is a place for you in any career. Make sure you take as many different types of writing classes as you can—creative writing and technical writing—because if you can’t get a job in one, you can get a job in the other. Take on as many projects as you can. You never know when you might be writing a voiceover for a commercial or writing copy for a website!

Last Update: 04/03/2018 EKW