Meet Miami U

Em McGowan, a junior Creative Writing major with a Rhetoric minor, is a transfer student who has had her fair share of twists and turns on her path to Miami. From transferring twice to trying out five different disciplines of study, she now knows how to make sure that she is passionate about what she is learning. 

What clubs are you involved in?

Em is involved in Humanists of Miami, a philosophy discussion club.

“Every week we decide on a new topic to discuss, and we try to make it as either controversial or as fundamental to human nature and life as we possibly can. We talk about a whole bunch of different controversial philosophical topics, and we debate them openly, with complete and total respect for the other person. ”

How did you end up at Miami? 

Since high school, Em has tried a variety of career paths. In high school, she always loved STEM and started pursuing that. Throughout her experience with STEM classes and different majors, at different institutions, she realized that “I had been chasing things that I liked, things that I was good at, and money, and I had to stop doing all of that.”

So, she switched to creative writing within English, something that would challenge her while still being fun. When she completed the associates degree, she realized that there are four  things she wanted to do with her life: 

• Write books
• Edit books
• Teach at the collegiate level
• Help people write

Miami came up during her college search because it had a specific major for creative writing, not just a minor of focus, but also due to a great Creative Writing MFA program, as well.

How was the transfer student experience when you first came to Miami?

Em had to learn new systems and ways of doing things than she had been used to at her previous institution, so starting at Miami was daunting.

“What helped was that I signed up for UNV 101, having that class really, really helped, and because I took it in the spring, because the other kids in class were also transfer students. I was in the same boat as everyone else, and that really helped the professor be able to tailor things for us.”

What would you say to your younger self?

“If you’re thinking that college isn’t for you because you can’t manage your time well enough to keep up with the coursework, for instance, or because you’ve got mental health issues, or you’ve got physical health issues, or something’s going on and you’re not meeting deadlines, you’re not meeting expectations, even the expectations you set for yourself, reach out and ask for help, because 99 out of 100 people will offer help that you didn’t even know was possible, and it’s the entire reason I’m here today.”

Em understands how hard it is to ask for help, “it sucks to humble yourself enough to ask for that kind of help. It takes courage. Much, and it’s painful, but the amount of open hands you get reaching down into the water to pull you out of it is overwhelming, and so you can always start your journey over.”

As a transfer student, why are you staying at Miami?

“Every single one of the people I’ve talked to here has been amazing. They’ve been really passionate about their job and about their area of study, and about helping people like me get to where we want to be and become the potential that we have. And so if what you’re doing isn’t meaningful to you, if what you’re doing is making you miserable or bored, try switching that up first, rather than switching where you are, and see if that helps. I had to radically switch from STEM to liberal arts and humanities, and hopefully nobody else requires something that radical. But if it’s not working, don’t force it.”