Elisa Beshero-bondar:
CLASS OF 1989
Neshannock High SchoolClass of 1989
New castle, PA
University of PittsburghClass of 9999
Greensburg, PA
Pennsylvania State University - Graduate SchoolClass of 2003
State college, PA
Washington & Jefferson CollegeClass of 1993
Washington, PA
Elisa's Story
So I went off to college at W&J, where I thought I was pre-med for a while, but figured out I really loved English, and wanted to become the PhD kind of doctor so I could teach in college and stay in school for the rest of my life! Really I loved the smart dialogues we'd have in college English classes--you just don't get those in bio or chem courses.
Went to grad school for Master's and PhD in English Literature at Penn State, where I met my spouse, who studies archaeology. I learned how to work with old manuscripts and archives, and I research early 19th-century British literature. You have to be crazy and dedicated to do a PhD in a humanities field, and that I was. The job market is very uncertain and volatile--but I was lucky. My backup plan involved working in Penn State's computer lab...Expand for more
s as a consultant, and going into technical writing/editing. I was lucky I didn't have to fall back on that--but managed to land a good university teaching position.
I graduated with my PhD in 2003 and got my first tenure-track teaching job at Pitt-Greensburg, a place I love because I have free range to teach and plan new courses in areas I want to keep reading. I'm teaching courses on 19th c. Brit and American lit as well as sci fi and fantasy. It's a good life! We live in an historic old house built 1903 in Greensburg, where we can walk to concerts and a great brew pub. Neshannock (and especially Mrs. Stolpe's last year teaching English) gave me an excellent start for my professional life as a scholar and literary historian, although I didn't realize that at the time!
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