Our Plan for The Mind at Work

Our group will be reading The Mind at Work: Valuing the Intelligence of the American Worker. For the semester, we plan to read a chapter every week. During our book club meetings, we will go over what we found interesting and what we learned. Through approaching our reading, in this way, we hope to analyze what elements truly make Mike Rose's book worth reading.

To give you an idea of what this book is about...I will summarize the back cover. In our society, people often judge another's career without understanding what work and skills are required of that job. It's easy to think that a truck driver simply drives or that a fast food worker just flips burgers. What we fail to understand is there are great educational, economical, and societal skills that are adapted through various jobs. To be successful in business, blue-collar workers need to adapt and pick up on certain skills. Maybe white-collar workers are thinking of intelligence in the wrong way. Mike Rose makes readers realize that intelligence needs to be looked at in a new, broader sense.

I am very excited to begin reading this book! And, I can't wait to learn more as the semester goes on.

My Profile Pick

I decided to pick Lauren Rocha for my profile. She is a graduate of BSU and is currently working on trying to get published. I worked with Lauren on The Comment and also had a class with her while she was at BSU. Over the last couple of years, she's been reaching out to agents about her work and the process has been difficult to navigate through. I'd like to find more information on why Lauren enjoys writing and why she is motivated to get published. I think her story stands out because she is trying every means possible to get published.

Possible Questions:

1) When did you first decide you wanted to write a novel?

2) Are there specific genres of writing that you enjoy?

3) How do you feel about the process of trying to get published?

4) What has pushed you to continue to work towards getting published?

5) What are your hopes for this novel in the future?

Who to pick for the profile?

For my profile, I am considering several individuals. The first two individuals are people that I currently interact with for work or have interacted with in the past. The last individual is one of my former peers. She is struggling with an interesting process that other English majors may relate to.

The first individual who I am considering is the Editor of the RCC Blog at Bridgewater State University. I think she would be an interesting subject because of her experience with writing. I am curious as to how she first started blogging and why she is motivated to continue working for our school's blog. This story could focus on the struggles she faces as an Editor and her motivation to continue writing.

The second individual who I am considering is a graduate of Bridgewater State and now, currently, a Morning Show Producer at Fox 25 News in Boston. I met her over the summer during my internship with the station and her background in news is fascinating. Her first job at the station did not pay a whole lot so she also worked part-time in a grocery store. It took a while for her to get where she is now, but she loves her job and wouldn't trade it for anything. I think her history and experience could make for an in-depth profile.

The last individual who I am considering speaking with is a graduate of Bridgewater State as well. I worked with her on the school newspaper a few years ago and I still speak with her from time to time. The last time we spoke she told me that she is working to get published. She has written a manuscript and the process is very slow. I think it would be exciting to learn about the publishing process and see how it's affected her outlook on writing. I want to know if she is still continuing to write and what inspired her to reach out to agents.

Anyway, those are the three individuals who I am considering at present. I would love to hear your input! It's going to be hard to narrow down who I want to profile.