Sugarcane

Works Cited \nArnott, Lyndsey. “A Career in Technical Writing – what can you expect? –.” Docsymmetry.com, n.d. Web. 13 March 2014.\nAsay, Matt. “Why Every Tech Company Needs An English Major.” ReadWrite.com. Say Media Inc. 25 Feb. 2014. Web. 2 March 2014. http://readwrite.com/2014/02/25/why-every-tech-company-needs-an-english-major#awesm=~oxnfmFVwZSOwY3\nBauerlein, Monika, and Clara Jeffery. “All Work and No Pay: The Great Speedup.” Mother Jones July/August 2011: 18-23. Print.\nBrandt, Deborah. “Writing for a Living: Literacy and the Knowledge Economy.” Literacy and Learning: Reflections on Writing, Reading, and Society. 1st. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2009. 117-139. Print.\nErard, Michael. "Freelance Fumblings." Chronicle Of Higher Education 50.44 (2004): C2. Professional Development Collection. Web. 8 Feb. 2014.\nJanik, Erika. “Freelance Writing: The Hows and Whys of Freelance Writing.” University of Wisconsin – Madison. College Library, Madison, WI. 26 March 2014. Guest Speaker.\nPeterson, Sarah, E. “Writing for Different Audiences.” University of Wisconsin – Madison. College Library, Madison, WI. 3 Feb. 2014. Guest Lecture.\n\n

<img src="http://www.mnn.com/sites/default/files/college%20student.jpg" width="800" height="350">\n"What up, bro?" Steve says, looking up from his cell phone. "I didn't know you were enrolled in this class.""Yeah, I figured it would be smart to take something that I might actually use down the road," you tell Steve while sitting down across the table."Plus it looks good on a resume.""I hear you. It's scary to think that we're almost out of here. I can't believe it's almost over, feels like it was just yesterday that we were freshmen." Steve pauses and stares out of the windows overlooking the construction going on at the Memorial Union. You can tell that it isn't really the construction he's looking at."I don't know if I'm ready for the real world, working a nine-to-five in a cramped cubicle somewhere dressed like a monkey. I wished I could stay here forever.""Not me, man. I'm glad it's almost over. I'm tired of jumping through hoops.""If you think you're not going to have to jump through hoops after college, you got another thing coming," Steve says.You shrug your shoulders. More and more students filter in and begin taking their seats. The professor comes in with a folder pressed under her arm. She addresses the class."I would like to begin the class today with each student offering an introduction," the professor says, standing in front of the room. "In the introduction, please state your name, your major, your year in school, and what you hope to take away from this class."Do you offer to go [[first]] or [[wait]]?\n

<img src="http://images.insidejobs.com/posts/73/photos/original/100_Careers_for_English_Majors.jpg?1374171503" width="700" height="350">\nYou're a senior, and an English major at UW-Madison entering your final semester. For years now, friends and family members have badgered you over your choice in majors, telling you how it's nearly impossible to find a decent job after graduation, and pressuring you to transfer into one of the STEM majors. However, your love for literature and art compels you to stay the course. Yet as a practical measure, you've decided to enroll in the course "Writing in Workplaces" in the hope that you will gain some much needed business writing experience that you can transfer to the workplace, thereby bolstering your marketability in the eyes of future employers. It is the first day of class, and you walk and see your friend Steve sitting at one of the tables. Do you sit at the same table as Steve? [[Yes|Sit]] or [[No|Don't Sit]]?\n

<img src="http://files.choosehelp.com.s3.amazonaws.com/content/8626b2c3d8ad07f8509ad8149a88e6d2_3b5d382_image_lead_hangover.jpg" width="400" height="400">\nYou wake up feeling well rested. You see Steve sitting in the corner of the classroom, looking a little green around the edges. You walk up to him, very animatedly slap him on the back, and ask him,"How’d your night go?""Urrr...," he answers.You’re glad that you went home instead of the bar. At the end of class, the professor mentions how everyone should be researching prospective careers and the writing involved with them. You get home and beginning surfing the web for ideas when you stumble upon the article “Freelance Fumblings” by Michael Erard. In it he describes his jump from academia to the world of freelance writing, and the struggles he faced after the transition. He initially choose freelance because he believed that it would offer him a sense of autonomy that a traditional nine-to-five did not, but soon found himself working in a cubicle at an insurance company because of the unreliable revenue stream associated with freelance. This is when Erard decided to change his writing strategy by creating a personal business model. He took a look at the bigger picture, set attainable goals for himself, increased his flexibility in relation to creating revenue through non-writing jobs to subsidize his writing, and united his principles with the hard economic facts. By adapting his personal business model, Erard was able to achieve more success in his writing endeavors than he had previously. His message emphasis the need to be realistic and adaptable when setting one’s goals. However, the article leaves you conflicted. On the one hand, you like that Erard possessed the malleability to adapt to his circumstances; however, on the other hand, you find it disconcerting that he began thinking about his writing career in terms of personal business models and revenue streams. You’re not sure that freelance is for you now that Erard has colored it in such an opaque light.You begin feeling a bit disillusioned at the prospect of writing in the workplace. The writing that’s being done seems very mechanical and dull. You find the thought of marketing yourself repulsive; however, it appears to be incorporated as part of the game. In a moment of weakness, a disastrous thought pops in your head, do you [[give up]] on a potential career in writing because you feel like you'd be selling out, or do you [[keep on going]]? \n

<img src="http://craigplaystead.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/asleepinfrontTV.jpg" width="625" height="250">\nYou watch TV and eventually fall asleep, failing to perform the assigned reading. Not a good way to start your semester.

<img src="http://images.sodahead.com/polls/001365043/wake20up20refreshed_xlarge.jpeg" width="400" height="400">\nYou wake up early, turn on your computer, and begin reading the article "Why Every Tech Company Needs An English Major" by Matt Asay. In it describes how tech companies are viewing English Majors quite differently than they had in the past, because they’re coming to realize the importance of good storytellers to sell their products. He states that the ultimate difference between the success and failure of a startup may be predicated by the startup’s ability to communicate their story to prospective clients. Asay stresses how too often companies will answer the question of what their product can do, but not why it is important to the potential client. He asserts that more and more tech companies have turned to the students of the humanities, especially English Majors, to communicate why the product is important to the client. Asay also adds that English Majors should be able to use personal blogs and social media on their résumés, because these materials display a candidate’s acumen as a writer. Asay ends the article by further emphasizing the necessity for strong communication in companies that wish to distinguish themselves, and how it is English Majors that make good candidates for these positions because they have been specifically trained to be good communicators. You feel encouraged that tech companies and the business world are beginning to realize the value in majoring in English, because you think English Majors and their abilities have been discounted for far too long.What strikes you as interesting is Asay focus on English Majors using digital media to market their abilities as writers. You decide that you're going to incorporate more digital media into your own writing so that you will have something to show potential employers. You realize that the world is rapidly changing, and that it's up to students of the humanities to embrace this change if they want to keep pace with the new technologies that companies are employing. You begin learning how to write code, create digital presentations, and you even write your own non-linear narrative using Twine software. The future begins to look a little bit brighter.[[The End]]

<img src="http://atlanta-appliance-repair.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/o-MAN-WATCHING-TV-facebook.jpg" width="400" height="400">\nWatching a show now and again doesn't hurt as long as after it's over you [[read the article]].

<img src="http://echealthinsurance.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/224x251xcollege.jpg.pagespeed.ic.CLOjvlm3S7.jpg" width="400" height="350">\nYou sit down at a table across the room from Steve. He looks up from his phone, grabs his bag, and jogs over to your table."What's up, bro?" Steve says. "I didn't know you enrolled in this class."You nod and open up your bag, pretending to be looking for something inside."You must not of seen my sitting across the room, huh?" He asks, sitting down on the other side of the table."Naw, I saw you, but I plan on taking this class seriously, and you joke around too much.""So you weren't going to sit by me?""No, I wasn't going to sit by you," you tell him while pulling out a notebook and pen. "I can't afford to play around anymore. This is my life and I have to take it seriously, sorry.""That's lame," Steve says, getting up and moving to a different table. You feel bad, but tell yourself that Steve will just have to understand.More and more students filter in and begin taking their seats. The professor comes in with a folder pressed under her arm. She addresses the class."I would like to begin the class today with each student offering an introduction," the professor says, standing in front of the room. "In the introduction, please state your name, your major, your year in school, and what you hope to take away from this class."Do you offer to go [[first]] or [[wait]]?

<img src=" http://herrickshighlander.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/stock-footage-student-reading-a-book-in-the-library.jpg" width="625" height="250">\nYou read an article titled "Writing for a Living: Literary and the Knowledge Economy" by Deborah Brandt. In it Brandt discusses what is called the "knowledge economy," and the writer’s role in the dissemination of knowledge capital. It seems that writer’s play a crucial role in the knowledge economy because they transfer knowledge into tangible forms which then can be bought and sold. The knowledge economy depends on humankind’s abilities to think, create, and innovate, but is also identified with learning, communication, and social networking. Due to the fact that so much depends on the success of a written communication for an organization in the knowledge economy, writing often takes on a manufacturing-like quality where the documents are edited and proofread down an assembly line of command with intense oversight. Therefore, the nature of workplace writing is highly collaborative. You learn that workplace writing tends to have high levels of mediation and synthesis, and the writers can feel like cogs in a giant machine. The writer must often mediate the chain of communication by ghostwriting documents, and/or create documents between departments. Brandt argues how in the knowledge economy literacy has become the instrument of production which drives the machinery. Writers must continually adapt to new federal and state regulations; therefore, they are perpetually changing their writing content. Writers must be highly adaptable due to the emphasis on continual innovation.Although, on a practical level, you understand the need for the use of clear, precise, concise, and mechanical language, you find the chapter a bit disconcerting because it paints writing in such mechanical terms. Yet you also realize that this may just be a fact of a writer’s life that they're forced to reconcile themselves with.The professor has assigned another text. Do you [[read|read 2]] it or [[give up]] the idea of writing for a career.

<img src="http://outstandingwriting.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/technical-writing.jpg" width="400" height="400">\nIn the web article, Lyndsay Arnott details a full range of factors that one will face upon venturing into a career as a technical writer. Arnott presents the distinction between working as a lone technical writer versus working as a member of a writing team. A lone technical writer is responsible for creating the entire documentation project. They must therefore possess a great deal of experience in the field in order to produce the full breadth of documentation. On the other hand, a technical writer working as part of a team will typically start out under the apprenticeship of an experienced writer, beginning with easier projects and slowly progressing to more difficult projects. These writers are heavily monitored and are usually asked to rewrite the documents several times. Most large teams of technical writers have templates that serve as a basis for the document. The templates will vary in difficulty, and it is up to the employee to learn how to format each one accordingly. Arnott goes on to discuss the differences between a freelance technical writer and working as an employee. Working as a freelance, the writer is able to perform the duties specified in the contract on his or her own terms. However, Arnott also warns of the instability connected to freelance; they don’t received employee benefits or unemployment. Also the government has very narrow rules on what constitutes freelance work. The freelance writer must be able to prove that the job contracted through the company is not the sole means of employment during the time period specified in the contract. Arnott suggests that the freelance writer should look to editing and smaller writing jobs to circumvent this difficulty. A writer working as an employee may not have the same freedom of movement as a freelancer, but there’s an added stability to the position. Arnott also offers links to websites that detail the average salaries for technical writers, both as freelance and full-time employees. This article is extremely informative, offering the practical details one should understand before jumping into the field of technical writing. You find it quite helpful.You ditch the idea of being a freelance writer. It would be too much of a hassle continually marketing yourself to future employers, and you're looking for something with a bit of stability. However, with this article and the others you notice these repeating themes of collaberation, flexibility, editing, and attention to detail. A vision of workplace writing is beginning to emerge, and you find yourself willing to embrace these echoing themes.It's getting late, and you feel yourself drifting off, but there's another article you want to read. Do you [[read it now]] or [[wait until morning]]?

<img src="http://en.docsity.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Student-frustration.jpg" width="400" height="400">\nWhen you get home you read "All Work and No Pay: The Great Speedup" by Monika Bauerlin and Clara Jeffery. In it Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery dispel the myth that the increased work load and hours worked by American workers is solely due to the great recession of 2007, and that it has more to do with a concept called “The Speedup,” whereby employers demand more work out of an employee without increasing that employee’s pay. The authors discuss how in past decades workers and labor unions fought against such practices, but, because of the reduction in unions and government legislation that favors employers, American workers have lost their leverage at the bargaining table. The authors talk about how America leads the world in productivity, and leads the industrialize world in labor hours per year, but still we get less benefits than most other countries. The authors address the concept of offloading, where an employer fires one employee and then dumps the work onto other employees without a pay increase. They also bring up the fact that wages have stagnated or fallen for 90% of American workers. The authors postulate that the speedup will continue until three fallacies are eliminated: 1) the stress of workloads is seen as a personal failing; 2) only your company is feeling the pinch; 3) you’re hopeless to affect a change in policy. You feel strongly about the article, because, coming from a union household, you've seen first-hand the positive effect collective bargaining and unions can have on the American workforce. You realize that as a workforce we must stand up for ourselves collectively in order to level the play fielding much like how it was done in the past.The article has felt you feeling frustrated. There's still time to catch Stevie and the gang down at the bar. Do you [[go|bar]] or get some [[sleep|home]]?

<img src="http://www.culture24.org.uk/asset_arena/6/54/26/362456/v0_master.jpg" width="300" height="450">\nNo one likes a quitter.

<img src="http://www.ere.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/college-student.jpg.png" width="400" height="350">\nYou quietly listen to the other students tell their stories. You realize how much their stories parallel your own. When it's your turn, you get up and reiterate the same fears and concerns that they too had addressed. A mutual sense of tension twists and pulls through the room, not merely the result of being forced to speak in front of others, but an echo of the well worn warnings of obsolescence you have all been subjected to by loved ones due to the path you have chosen. Yet you feel that in no small way the path has also chosen you. The humanities are what you were always good at, and you couldn't have been a STEM major if you wanted to. Or so you tell yourself.You students are all here because your futures loom over your heads full of foreboding, ruin, and despair. You dream of yourselves buried under mountains of student debt that locks your arms and legs in place, and presses down on you until you can no longer breathe. You can see the apprehension grow on each other's faces as the room realize that this is the end of the line; that soon you will be forced into the real world. For now you are a community united by fear and the constant anxiety that the world hasn't any room to offer you.The professor ends the class by detailing the expectations and suggests that the students begin researching different jobs related to writing to focus your assignments on. She assigns some readings. When you get home, do you [[read]] them, or do you [[watch TV]] instead? \n

<img src="http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130914074755/powerlisting/images/1/12/FAIL-Word-art-300x187.png" width="600" height="400">\nFail, the bar is never a good idea on a school night.

<img src="http://www.mkecc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/GuestSpeaker.jpg" width="400" height="400">\nYou wake up feeling refreshed and head over to class. Today there’s a guest speaker named Sarah Peterson who works at the Office of Lawyer Regulation of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The topic she's addressing is writing for different audiences. Peterson illustrates the importance of being cognizant of one’s audience when composing written communications. She reflects upon the five different audiences that she typically writes to and discusses how the information for each party must be tailored specifically to them. For instance, if she’s writing to a respondent attorney, she will incorporate carefully drafted and specific questions, because these lawyers have a tendency to use loopholes; whereas, if she’s sending a letter to a grievant, she will use plain language and open-ended questions. Peterson also elaborates on the usefulness of getting to know your boss’s writing style and creating a cheat sheet with the boss’s writing rules. She advises the class to treat e-mails as any other piece of workplace writing, to be aware of the workplace tone, and to embrace the constraints on your personal writing style. Although the writing you perform in the workplace may not be reflective of your personality, you should look at it as a chance to grow as a writer. You think that Peterson’s advice for writing for different audiences is helpful because in the professional world you will be expected to handle certain correspondences with a considerable amount of delicacy that only practicing on different audiences can bring. You begin to see this trend in the need to be adaptable when it comes to writing in the workplace.After class Steve comes up to you and asks, "So what d'ya think about the class?""It's alright, what do you think?""That writing for work is gonna suck.""Yeah, it's scary. All these years they've taught us to write one way, and now it's like we have to learn a whole new system--several in fact. But it's kinda cool at the same time, learning new ways to write. Don't you think?No, not really, but you got to do what you got to do. You want to go catch a movie?Do you go to the [[movies]] with Steve, or go home and [[study]].\n

<img src="http://en.docsity.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Student-frustration.jpg" width="400" height="400">\nWhen you get home you read "All Work and No Pay: The Great Speedup" by Monika Bauerlin and Clara Jeffery. In it Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery dispel the myth that the increased work load and hours worked by American workers is solely due to the great recession of 2007, and that it has more to do with a concept called “The Speedup,” whereby employers demand more work out of an employee without increasing that employee’s wage. The authors discuss how in past decades workers and labor unions fought against such practices, but, because of the reduction in unions, and government legislation that favors employers, American workers have lost their leverage at the bargaining table. The authors talk about how America leads the world in productivity, and leads the industrialize world in labor hours per year, but still we get less benefits than most other countries. The authors address the concept of offloading, where an employer fires one employee and then dumps the work onto other employees without a pay increase. They also bring up the fact that wages have stagnated or fallen for 90% of American workers. The authors postulate that the speedup will continue until three fallacies are eliminated: 1) the stress of workloads is seen as a personal failing; 2) only your company is feeling the pinch; 3) you’re hopeless to affect a change in policy. You feel strongly the article, because, coming from a union household, you've seen first-hand the positive effect collective bargaining and unions can have on the American workforce. This article makes you realize that as a workforce we must stand up for ourselves collectively in order to level the play fielding much like it was done in the past.The article has left a bad taste in your mouth. You realize that even the most devote student must relax once in a while. You begin to wish that you had taken Steve up on his offer to go to the movies. But it's still earlier. You call Steve up and he hasn't left yet. You tell him that you've be right over.You leave the movie feeling refreshed. It's good to take a little time of here and there in order to relax. Steve and his buddies say that they're going to stop in the bar a drink or two. Do you go with them to the [[bar]] and go [[home]]?

<img src="http://www.presidioedu.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/guest-speaker-erin-decker-006.jpg" width="600" height="400">\nThe next day in class, the professor has another guest speaker, Erika Janik, who discuss the hows and whys of freelance writing. She begins her speech by assuring the class that when it comes to writing part of the process is getting it wrong, and that a writer can only get better through writing extensively. She talks about how some of the benefits of freelance are that there’s a greater sense of freedom because you get to set your own hours and be your own boss (for the most part), but that it is not for everyone. A lot of freelancer’s time is spent home alone, or in coffee shops. Other downfalls of freelance is that you must juggle multiple deadlines, handle an assortment of bosses all with different needs, constantly market yourself, and face rejection. Her advice to future writers is to find their niche and create a great idea for a story. She recommends that you read community bulletin boards, look at your own life, take on a national trend and localize it or the other way around, attend an event or a lecture, keep track of historical milestones and holidays, ask friends and family what topics they would like to know more about, and, most importantly, read in order to find ideas for topics. Janik explains what makes a good story. It should be unique, or look at an issue by a new angle. It should surprise the reader in some way, and include a conflict that needs resolution. It should be useful, include characters that are relatable, and have a beginning, middle, and end. Janik advises to find a market for your story by researching possible publications at the library, bookstore, online, or writers’ market. In researching the publications, you should find out what topics they cover, what regular departments they have, who reads the magazine, what angle does it take, and, lastly, the editor’s name. She advises to write a query letter to the publication explaining the focus, angle, and format the story is to take. The letter should lead with a hook, offer the sources where the information will stem from, present evidence for why the story is right for the magazine, and state why you are the person to write it. In order to get some publishing experience, Janik advises to write for nonprofit newsletters, a community newspaper, or any other smaller publication. This will give you some samples of your work that you can offer to potential employers. Janik warns to be ready for rejection, because it happens to all writers. If your story is fortunate enough to be accepted, Janik recommends to sign a contract that includes your payment, the due date for the story, the word count, and a document that states the magazines right to publish your original piece first. Janik’s final advice is to be prepared to wait because publication can take a long, long time. You really enjoy Erika Janik’s speech because it offers valuable tips about following a career in writing.However, you're really not sure that freelance is for you. You continue researching possible careers involved with writing, and stumble upon the position of a technical writer. One article in particular catches your eye, "A Career in Technical Writing--what can you expect?" by Lyndsey Arnott. Yet your favorite TV show is about to air. Do you [[watch it]] or [[read the article]]?

<img src="http://www.colgate.edu/images/about_facilities-at-colgate_the-arts_theaters-and-auditoriums/the-hamilton-movie-theater-highlights-the-charm-of-the-village-.jpg?sfvrsn=2" width="600" height="400">\nYou leave the movie feeling refreshed. It's good to take a little time here and there in order to relax. Steve and his buddies say that they're going to stop at the bar for a drink or two. Do you go with them to the [[bar]] or go [[home|home 2]]?

<img src="http://www.sunsprite.com/wp-site/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/man_sleeping_on_laptop_sm.jpg" width="400" height="400">\nYou fall asleep at the beginning of the article, and wake up next morning with your computer in your lap wishing you would have just gone to bed. After an uncomfortable night's sleep, you fire up the computer and read the article.It is titled "Why Every Tech Company Needs An English Major" by Matt Asay. In it describes how tech companies are viewing English Majors quite differently than they had in the past, because they’re coming to realize the importance of good storytellers to sell their products. He states that the ultimate difference between the success and failure of a startup may be predicated by the startup’s ability to communicate their story to prospective clients. Asay stresses how too often companies will answer the question of what their product can do, but not why it is important to the potential client. He asserts that more and more tech companies have turned to the students of the humanities, especially English Majors, to communicate why the product is important to the client. Asay also adds that English Majors should be able to use personal blogs and social media on their résumés, because these materials display a candidate’s acumen as a writer. Asay ends the article by further emphasizing the necessity for strong communication in companies that wish to distinguish themselves, and how it is English Majors that make good candidates for these positions because they have been specifically trained to be good communicators. You feel encouraged that tech companies and the business world are beginning to realize the value in majoring in English, because you think English Majors and their abilities have been discounted for far too long.What strikes you as interesting is Asay focus on English Majors using digital media to market their abilities as writers. You decide that you're going to incorporate more digital media into your own writing so that you will have something to show potential employers. You realize that the world is rapidly changing, and that it's up to the students in the humanities to embrace this change if they want to keep pace with the new technologies that companies are employing. You begin learning how to write code, create digital presentations, and you even write your own non-linear narrative using Twine software. The future begins to look a little bit brighter.[[The End]]

<img src="http://www.zionacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/zionacademy.com-home-schooling.jpg" width="400" height="400">\nThis article is titled “The Future of Work” by Alex Altman. It offers an in depth look at the new work environment that college students can expect to enter upon graduating. The article is actually a collection of eleven separate pieces focusing on one aspect that effects the new work environment, and each piece addresses both the new expectations and challenges of the emerging job culture. Many of the details in these pieces focus on the fact that there isn’t any longer a standardized path when it comes to employment, which allows employers and employees to begin to look at work in a new way. The article states that the workplace culture is shifting, making it more viable for women to assume positions of authority. There is also a movement to bring back ethics into the business world. Cuts to traditional benefits have forced younger employees to look into new areas for possible benefits. There is also a real emphasis placed on worker flexibility, adaptability, and collaboration.Personally, you're glad that the workplace is adapting to the changing times. Although you find some of the article disturbing, you also think that articles like this one is good for a college student to read because it arms them with the information they’ll need to succeed in a modern professional environment. Now that your finished with the readings, do you [[go to bed]] or stay up late and play a [[video game]].

Aiden Nienajadlo

<img src="http://www7.pcmag.com/media/images/317997-video-game-player.jpg?thumb=y" width="300" height="300">\nYou stay up all night playing that stupid video game. When it's time to get up for school, you sleep in. Later in the afternoon, a friend stops by and asks you if you want to hit the bars. You say, "Sure, what could it hurt." You stay up all night, again missing school the following morning. This becomes a habit, and eventually you fail out of school. You get a job bartending, and one afternoon a customer offers you a shot. You accept, glancing around to make sure nobody is looking. Before you know it, you begin drinking a couple every day while at work. Your boss can smell the booze on your breath. He fires you. Your parents refuse to talk to you. You get evicted from your apartment, and end up on skid-row. All because you didn't get a good night's sleep. \n<img src="http://www.lancescurv.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Drunk-Man-Knocked-Out.jpg" width="500" height="500">

<img src="http://cdn.blackenterprise.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2011/08/college-textbooks-students-classroom-620x480.jpg" width="400" height="350">\nYou tell your story in front of the class, voicing your fears and concerns about the lack of future job prospects. You can tell by the demeanors of the other students and from their stories that they too harbor similar concerns. A mutual tension twists and pulls through the room, which is not merely the result of being forced to speak in front of others, but an echo of the warnings that you all have been subject to by loved ones because of your chosen major. Yet you personally feel that in no small way the path has also chosen you. The humanities are what you were always good at, and you couldn't have been a STEM major if you wanted to. Or so you tell yourself.The students are all here because the future looms over their heads full of foreboding, despair, and potential ruin. You all picture yourselves buried under mountains of student debt that limits your freedom, and presses down on you until you can no longer breathe.You can see the apprehension growing on each other's faces as the room realize that this is the end of the line; that soon you will be forced into the real world. However, for now you are a community united by the constant fear and anxiety that the future hasn't any room for you. That you are all orphans to a unforgiving world.Regardless of the current circumstances in the job market, you shake yourself out of this pointless bout of self-pity and concentrate on the professor's words, determined to parse out every bit wisdom and guidance that they offer.The professor ends the class by detailing the expectations, and suggests that each student begin researching different jobs related to writing to focus their assignments on.When you get home, you don't feel like doing anything. The professor has assigned some readings. Do you [[read]] them, or do you [[watch TV]] instead?