If it weren’t for a world literature class with Dr. Sue Atkins, Jocelyn Maggard would have a difficult time writing about her PLNU experience in a short profile. “She assigned us an essay on Madame Bovary with a word count of 700. That was the first time I had such few words to make my point. I had to figure out what information actually necessary” she recalls.
Jocelyn graduated from PLNU with a B.A. in literature with an emphasis in English Education in 2010 and is completing her masters of public administration from San Diego State University.
As a small business owner, Jocelyn provides nonprofits and companies assistance with communications, research, and project management. Her clients have included a GIS consulting company, a tech startup and environmental nonprofits.
She started at PLNU with the plans of becoming a high school English teacher. Her junior year, she took an introduction to journalism course with Dr. Dean Nelson, which completely changed her future she says.
Dr. Nelson gave the students current events quizzes, so Jocelyn became a newshound. The 2008 recession started that semester and Jocelyn listened to the endless news coverage trying to decipher what was happening and why it mattered. Since then, that skill prepared Jocelyn for every job role she’s held.
When she graduated, she decided not to pursue a career in teaching, and instead of starting a credentialing program, she took an internship as a production assistant at KPBS Public Broadcasting and a job as an editorial assistant with a weekly community newspaper. In both jobs her education and connections to PLNU were immensely helpful, she says.
In 201, through a PLNU connection, she started covering San Diego city government for a community newspaper. After her first City Council meeting, she realized she needed to learn more of the storied past of local government. Studying literature prepared her to follow and analyze long and complex narratives. “It was like deciphering a novel. There were characters, settings and themes,” she says.
In 2012, she took her knowledge of local government and started working on a City of San Diego mayoral campaign. She went on to serve on four other campaigns and as a program manager for an environmental policy think-tank.
Jocelyn loves that her career gives her the opportunity to explore so many different things. Whether she’s working on a project in water policy or writing blogs for a tech company one thing has remained constant: her strong skills in writing, research, organizing information and thinking about ideas in a broad context. All of these skills she says come from studying literature.
Jocelyn says studying literature prepared her to take an issue and understand it in a broader context, and that in turn made her a stronger writer. She also had professors that always pushed her to do better.
“American literature is my favorite subject, and I took four classes with Dr. Martin, and I always tried for that elusive A on my essays. He was so encouraging, but it pushed me to always think about how my writing could be better from grammar to making a solid argument.
When she wasn’t reading or writing papers, Jocelyn worked as a department assistant in the Literature Department where she graded tests, tutored students in the Writer’s Studio, organized book and bake sales, and helped coordinate and prepare for the many guest writers and speakers the department brought to campus. She even got to go with Dr. Nelson to pick up Garrison Keillor. She also played on a recreational water polo team with other PLNU students at the YMCA and took advantage of one of the best surf spots in Southern California.