Student Profile
Mark DiMattei
Creative Writing Major,
Class of 2007
Walpole, Mass.
Mark DiMattei, a JSC creative writing major and studio arts minor says that he always loved books, but after taking a writing class in high school, he knew that writing was something he had to do. So, when he was looking for colleges, interesting English classes were a must. Johnson State College had them, but the fact that JSC offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts sealed the deal.
And it was the right choice, Mark says. "I’ve had a great experience here. The community feels very open and the people here are wonderful. The English/literature department has fantastic students in the classes and faculty who always seem accessible. And it’s not uncommon that I have many of the same friends and professors in different classes, so we all get to know each other very well."
He has also been able to be involved with the National Student Exchange program, which allowed him to spend a year at Sonoma State University near San Francisco The experience enabled him to "take classes with a whole new set of perspectives and people." Between his experience at Sonoma State and at JSC, Mark feels that he's got "a very well-rounded perspective."
Mark is very involved on campus, working with the Lambda Alliance and supporting friends who perform at Dibden Center for the Arts and work in the Womyn's Center. He is also interning at both the Green Mountains Review and the Gihon River Review literary magazines, something that he thinks will give him an edge in the publishing world: "Because of these two magazines, I read more prose than most of my classmates, but I also get to know how publishers work from the inside and have that knowledge when the time comes to submit my own work."
In the future, Mark hopes to be a publishing author and expects to work as an editor or copywriter. In the meantime, he plans to keep working on his own writing and enjoy the community that he's become a part of at Johnson State College.