This week, we zotbloggers were assigned to write about a UCI or faculty staff member about their experiences in their journey. I had the honor of interviewing Rachel Hoffer, my Writing 39C TA from the winter quarter, and the chance to learn more about her college career and path to where she is today.
Rachel was born and raised in Irvine, California. Throughout her lifetime, she was able to see her small hometown grow into a huge tech center. She moved out of Irvine to attend a small, private Liberal Arts college located in Los Angeles, California: Occidental College. Coming into college, Rachel explained how she wanted to do something that was meaningful, that she loved, and was passionate about. Additionally, she wanted to do something that she could, “… transform into making a world a better place.” Rachel thought about becoming a teacher to teach about a topic she really enjoyed. That topic was related to her all-time favorite hobby: reading. In college, she majored in English to pursue her passion for literature with the “grand dream” of becoming a literature professor.
Choosing her major was not an easy task. Coming out of high school, Rachel didn’t have a clue about what major she wanted to pursue. At first, she thought that she would study either Psychology or Political Science. What she discovered after her first year while taking GE courses was that the “one connecting factor” that she “… enjoyed from each class was getting to practice analysis skills.” When she took her first writing class, she discovered how she loved reading and analyzing literature. This led to her pursuing English as her major with two minors in history and classical studies by her sophomore year.
Rachel studied hard in her major and graduated in 4 years. Following graduating with her undergraduate degree, she decided to take a gap year. During that gap year, she worked 4-5 jobs; she worked for an arts festival, a marketing software engineering company, a publisher, and more. Rachel discloses that these entry-level jobs were “all opportunities of learning.” These jobs gave Rachel an idea of jobs that she didn’t want to pursue, but also gave her an idea of what she wanted to do in the future. A part of these jobs she loved was teaching skills to others. Finding her career path of teaching was similar to her finding her major in English. Rachel began tutoring kids from different levels and learned that she loved working with high school AP Literature students. She decided to get a Ph.D. to become a college professor at Claremont Graduate University. She then came to UCI to focus on researchability after doing her research and learning. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she was able to reassess her career and “expand the toolbox of teaching.” This year was Rachel’s first year teaching Writing 39C at UCI. “After this period in my life, I expect to finish out my Ph.D. for the next 4 years,” Rachel explains. In the future, she hopes to become a professor at a 4-year university and become a tenured professor.
I was intrigued by Rachel’s story of her college career. One of the main points that I took away from her experience was how she discovered what she loved to do through different experiences. It’s a unique way of figuring out what you want to do as a career. I just wanted to thank Rachel for giving me the opportunity in interviewing her! I really enjoyed her Writing 39C class, and was excited that I was able to talk to her outside of class. If you are interested in taking the same career path as Rachel, I highly recommend getting in touch with her!