Where Are They Now? Featuring: Andrea Lazarus
We’re interviewing alumni who worked on The York Review in the past to see how they’re doing after graduation. Today’s interview is with Andrea Lazarus, an alumna of York College and current adjunct professor at York College.
When did you attend York College and what was your major and minor?I attended from 2003 until my graduation in 2007. I majored in Professional Writing with a minor in Public Relations.
While working on the York Review, what were your titles and what did you do?I wasn’t on the editing or publication side of the York Review, but one year I wrote an essay for a creative nonfiction class taught by Marion Winik that somebody recommended I submit. I did, and it was accepted.
What made you interested in working on the York Review?I was always nervous about sharing work that I had written, but that became an important requirement in some of my writing classes (play-writing, creative nonfiction, freelance writing), so I thought I needed to just get over myself and submit an essay for publication. That was, after all, going to be my life after college, so I thought I should try to get some practice and experience.
What did you want to do when you were in college? (dream job, or a general idea of what you wanted to do.)I remember sitting in one of my first writing classes at York College and thinking that the professor there had the greatest job in the world. I just loved being in college and thought it would be amazing to work at one teaching something that I am so passionate about. Originally, I thought I would like to be a magazine editor or a music journalist, but after working a few writing/editing jobs after college, I realized that I was truly invested in helping others, and I thought working in education would be a more hands-on way for me to help others while still surrounding myself with reading, writing, and creativity.
What have you been doing since you graduated?I’ve worked in a few writing/editing roles before landing back in education. I worked for the Pennsylvania Legislative Reference Bureau as a writer/editor, then I tried technical editing for a while and hated it, so I went back to graduate school for a master’s degree in English. Afterwards, I went to work for the York Daily Record while I began my teaching career at Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC), where I’m now a part-time academic advisor and adjunct instructor. A few years after starting at HACC, I came back to YCP to teach!
Have you been working on other creative works recently?I’m always writing something; I have so many ideas and just wish I had more time and energy to turn something in to a finished piece. Working at the newspaper got me into blogging, so a few years ago I started a lifestyle blog just for fun that I rarely update. I’m a fan of Stephen King’s advice in On Writing, which says, “Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open. Your stuff starts out being just for you, in other words, but then it goes out. Once you know what the story is and get it right — as right as you can, anyway — it belongs to anyone who wants to read it,” so I won’t share any more details about my unfinished projects.
How does it feel to see the magazine on the other side now that you’re no longer working on publication?I think the York Review is a great opportunity for YCP students to get some experience and to build their confidence as creators. It’s a really neat feeling when someone approaches you and says, “Oh, I read that thing you wrote,” so I think it’s marvelous that YCP students have a creative outlet to experience that and to express themselves.