Senior Spotlight: Alexa Lesniak

Alexa Lesniak is an English major with minors in professional writing and creative writing who will be attending the Columbia Publishing Course in New York City.

How did you choose the English major?

When I toured UMD, I found out about the Jiménez-Porter Writers' House. That was my biggest draw in coming here, because I wanted to do creative writing. I ended up finishing up a lot of my requirements for the creative writing track pretty early, so I switched to the media studies track and added creative writing and professional writing minors. It was through all that I found what I actually wanted to do. At first I thought I wanted to do scriptwriting, then I moved more toward poetry, but I ended up finding through my professional writing courses that I really loved editorial work and publishing, which I really was not expecting. But I ended up pursuing that and I started getting internships. I interned for Yellow Arrow Publishing as a program management intern, and I learned a lot about editorial work. And so now that is what I'm planning to pursue.

Can you tell us more about your experience in the Jiménez-Porter Writers' House?

I joined the program in my second semester of freshman year. My professors were great and they were so helpful in showing me that you can have a career as a writer. Also just living there and being surrounded by people who wanted to write was so nice. The alumni connections are also something I'm so grateful for. I've had a lot of people reach out to me when I apply for jobs saying, “I saw you were in the Writers’ House at UMD, and I was too.” And that's just an added bonus I wasn't expecting.

What made you choose the Columbia Publishing Course for your next step?

It was through Dolapo Demuren at the Writers’ House. He was the one who originally suggested that I should pursue a publishing school just to gain more experience. And everyone I've talked to about the course has had nothing but great things to say. I know I want to pursue publishing, and I also know I want to work for a bigger company. And going to one of these publishing schools and truly being immersed within New York City and the industry is going to be a great opportunity to meet people who work there. I'll also receive a certificate, which will be really useful when applying to jobs. So I'm super excited for the program.

What direction are you hoping your career will take in the next few years?

I am hoping to do editorial work in publishing. The program will help give me clarity on the exact section I want to go into. I just know as long as I'm working with books, I'll be happy.