English

English Alumni
Megan Trotter, B.A. English 

"My name is Megan Trotter and I graduated with a degree in English in 2006, with a minor in history. I am currently a marketing writer at Tennessee Tech University.

"Each week I get the opportunity to talk to faculty, staff and students on campus who are doing fascinating work and are achieving impressive things. I get real joy in being one of the people who tells the stories of these achievements and helping everyone involved get the recognition they deserve.

"Before I joined Tech’s staff in 2021, I worked at the local newspaper, the Herald-Citizen, for 10 years as a journalist. While there, I was in charge of content for the Living section, which focused on human interest stories, as well as stories on local artists, theatrical productions and other creative people and events in the Upper Cumberland. I also wrote more “hard” news such as stories on city council meetings, but I always have favored stories where I get to sit down and listen to a person talk about their passions.

"I feel that Tech’s English program helped teach me the skills of really listening to other people as they share their thoughts and ideas and being able to translate what I’m told into a concise story that captures the heart of the other person’s experience. I love hearing from people who say something I’ve written about them has brought them attention from other news outlets or opened up new opportunities for them.

"I also write and self-publish novels in my free time which, though they are fantasy, are set in real historical times and places. My minor in history gave me the added research skills I’ve needed to find and incorporate historic cultural details into my writing, which has made my writing all that more interesting and creative. Of course, there was also all my classes in writing and literature that helped me learn how to tell my own stories in my own voice.

"All in all, I feel that my degree in English at Tennessee Tech has not only helped make me the writer I am today, it has also made me a life-long lover of learning and a person who actively seeks out other people’s points of view," Megan Trotter.