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Handshaking Night 

What can you do with your English major (or minor)? Every year, EIU English creates opportunities to explore more. Below, you can read biographies of the professionals who attended the 2025 Handshaking Night on October 1st to talk with EIU students about their careers and the ways that studying English helped prepare them for a variety of professional experiences.

 

2025 Featured Professional Guests

 

Julia Abazi is an English as a Second Language (ESL) Instructor at Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Illinois. She works with first- and second-year international students who have varying levels of English proficiency to improve their reading, writing, grammar, speaking, and listening skills. She graduated from EIU with a B.A. in English with a focus in Professional Writing and Creative Writing and an M.A. in English with a focus in Creative Writing and Literary Studies. She is also a poet and writer and has been working on a multi-media poetry collection that she hopes to publish in the near future. 

Kirsten Bays is an attorney and has two jobs. Ten hours a week she is the Student Legal Services Attorney at EIU. Her “full time” job is being an adoption and reproductive technology attorney. As the SLS attorney, her job is to advise and refer students on a variety of legal matters including small claims court, land lord tenant issues, criminal matters and almost any other legal issue that arises while a student is at school at EIU. As an adoption and reproductive technology attorney, her job is to finalize all kinds of adoptions including private, agency, related, international and ward children adoptions. Additionally, she works in reproductive technology law including drafting related to gestational surrogacy, egg and/or sperm donation and embryo adoption. Lawyers write, read and talk for a living, so her job involves legal writing and research every single day. Although Kirsten didn’t graduate with an English degree from EIU, she almost did and only dropped the double major when she found out it would mean waiting a year to go to law school. She took several English courses while at EIU and the class she credits with helping her the most in law school and legal writing was The Structure of English.

Steve Brantley earned a BA degree in English with a Film Studies Minor from the University of Iowa. After college Steve lived in Dublin, Ireland for several months. On returning to the United States, he moved to Portland, Oregon and then Chicago. After deciding to return to graduate school Steve attended Indiana University in Bloomington Indiana and worked toward a Master of Library Science degree and a Master of Arts in Communication and Culture degree. After completing his graduate work, Steve was a faculty academic librarian at the University of Illinois at Chicago and then at Eastern Illinois University. He is Professor of Library Services and the head of the Research, Engagement and Scholarship unit in Booth Library.

David Busboom is a writer and editor with a BA in English from EIU. He is currently the Senior Managing Editor of the Poultry Science Association, where he oversees the day-to-day operations of three scientific journals. He also writes fiction, with some two dozen stories published in such venues as the SATURDAY EVENING POST, PLANET SCUMM, and STORM CELLAR. His debut collection, EVERY CRAWLING, PUTRID THING, was published by JournalStone in 2022.

Katie Eggleston is currently a 9-12 ELA teacher in Chillicothe, IL, for both the IVC High School and the IVC Learning Center (their alternative high school). She enjoys finding creative ways to approach her curriculum including turning the entire Learning Center into a Mass Media Museum, creating a semester-long card game for a mythology class, and an in-person "Cask of Amontillado" escape room. She graduated from EIU with a B.A. in English education and a minor in theater (2018) and an M.A. in English with a concentration in composition and rhetoric (2023). 

Amanda Groves is Associate Dean of Academic Strategy Management at Southern New Hampshire University, where she leads efforts in program health, governance, accreditation, and oversight. She previously served as Associate Dean of Liberal Arts (Composition) and Lead Faculty in English, providing strategic leadership, faculty training, and curriculum development. With earlier roles as an English instructor at Lake Land College, teaching assistant at Eastern Illinois University, and as a writing tutor for SMARTHINKING, Amanda has built a career focused on student success, faculty support, and strengthening higher education programs.

Kim Hunter is the Director of Student Success Services at Lake Land College. Previously, she worked at the Coordinator of International Studies, also at Lake Land, and as a Community Outreach Coordinator for the Douglas County Health Department. Kim has taught first-year writing and professional writing at Purdue University. She continues to teach Composition, Reading, and Intensive English for Lake Land College, as well as dual-credit Composition for several local high schools. Kim is a graduate of EIU's English Department.

  Bobbi Kingery is the Director of Career Services and a Master Career Counselor at Eastern Illinois University. Bobbi and her staff provide workshops, career fairs, and one-on-one counseling to help students prepare for their careers, find internship and other experiential learning opportunities, and prepare for all steps of the job search process.

Shelby Koehne has been writing and editing professionally for more than a decade and is currently the senior brand writer for Gies College of Business at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She’s written news articles, impact reports, web content, ad copy, video scripts, user manuals, style guides, business proposals, and more. She holds a BA in English from EIU.

Leon Mire graduated in 2017 from EIU, where he studied English, professional writing, and philosophy. He took a summer internship as a content writer/editor for EIU's Office of �Ӱ�ԭ��, which led to a graduate assistantship and eventually a full-time job in EIU's Enrollment Management Office as Communications Coordinator. His job involves writing and editing a variety of print and digital publications, analyzing data, and organizing the University's communication plan for prospective students. He also worked as a copy editor for the journal Gazette/Times-Courier before joining EIU's staff in 2019.

 

Josh Reinhart is the Public Information Coordinator for EIU. During his career, he has worked as a copywriter, public relations specialist, and communications coordinator. He also runs his own videography / photography business. 

 

Carl Walworth worked for thirty-one years as a reporter, editor and later publisher in the newspaper industry in Illinois. He currently is the library director at the Mattoon Public Library. He is the author ofSon of Southern Illinois: Glenn Poshard’s Life in Politics and Education,The Mayor of Moultrie Avenue and was a researcher forLake Sara, the Hidden Jewel in America’s Heartland. Walworth has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois in Urbana and an MBA from Nova Southeastern University.

 

Walworth also writes business histories, family histories and wedding stories for personal uses. These coffee-table manuscripts capture and preserve details of valued memories.

 

His freelance journalism has been published in a variety of publications, from agriculture to public policy. He also has a blog at

Aaron White is an instructional designer and affiliate instructor at Bradley University in Peoria, IL. His research focuses on the use of instructional comics in college classrooms. Aaron teaches composition, art, and adult education courses for Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, IL, where he has been an adjunct instructor since 2012. He holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an English Teaching concentration from Indiana State University, an M.A. in Literary Studies, and a B.A. in English from Eastern Illinois University.

His academic interests include creative writing, comic studies, curriculum and instruction, film studies, and composition studies. Aaron writes essays, poetry, and (occasionally) fiction. His work has appeared in National Social Science Journal, Synkroniciti, The Smart Set, The Anatomy of Desire: An Anthology of Distance (The Poetry Annals, 2018), Capsule Stories, The World We Live(d) In: An Anthology of Poems about Social Justice (INwords Publications, 2019), and other publications. Aaron also serves as the Nonfiction Editor and Comics Editor for Bluestem Magazine at EIU.

Samantha Whiting is a writer and creative professional, currently serving in dual roles as Project Manager and Content Director at a woman-run digital marketing agency based in the Midwest. In her role as Content Director, she oversees the execution and delivery of all advertising copy. She earned her B.A. in English from Eureka College and her M.A. in English from Eastern Illinois University. Outside of agency life, she is currently working on her first novel. 

Dr. Marjorie Worthington is a Professor of English and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She recently became the Director of EIU's Master's Program in English. She specializes in American literature and contemporary fiction.  

Past Guests for Handshaking Night:

Jurnee Evans, a May 2022 graduate from EIU with a bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing and minors in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Film Studies, recently left their job as a Legal Advocate and has since been working on a myriad of creative works that includes poems, plays, short stories, novels, songs, art pieces, and video game and film projects they hope to soon share with the world. They are also exploring using their vast creative skills on a freelance basis that allows them to use their passions to create art for others and help others create their own art.

Chris Houchens earned his B.A in 2009 and M.A. in 2011. As an undergrad, he worked as a clerk at the Charleston Carnegie Public Library, and as a graduate student, he worked in the EIU Writing Center. After finishing his degrees at EIU, he moved to Champaign, IL and worked as an Assistant Store Manager for Walgreens. After nearly four years working there, he went back to school and earned his M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois in 2016. While at U of I, he worked as a Residence Hall Library Supervisor, running his own mini-library. In March 2017, he returned to the Charleston Carnegie Public Library as the Library Director.

Travis Moody is a Dual Credit and Outreach Coordinator at EIU. He also teaches first-year writing and dual credit English for the EIU English Department. Travis earned his BA in English and Philosophy and his MA in English from EIU.

After graduating from EIU in 2012, Abbey Nosbisch moved back to Effingham, Illinois, to begin working as a Marketing Assistant for the Effingham Convention and Visitors Bureau. After five years in the tourism industry and eight years with the City of Effingham, she was promoted to Deputy City Clerk in the fall of 2017 and then appointed to City Clerk in February 2019. As City Clerk, Abbey's functions are broad and vital to the operation and welfare of the community serving as keeper of the official record of the City of Effingham and the City Seal. The City Clerk supervises the City debt, obligations, loans, liabilities and other payments of interest, along with being responsible for all City bonds, contracts, agreements, ordinances, resolutions and minutes. The City Clerk keeps a record of and attends all City Council Meetings. Abbey is also the Freedom of Information Act Officer and Open Meetings Act Officer for the City of Effingham.

Julia Parish graduated from EIU with a B.A. in English (2019) and an M.A. in English (2023), during which time she also earned a Certificate in the Teaching of Writing. Currently, Julia is an English teacher for Sullivan High School. During her first five years of teaching, she has dedicated her time to teaching in rural districts and building a classroom library. Julia spends her summer months taking classes towards becoming a certified library media specialist and volunteering her time to weed, process, and inventory the high school library. When not checking for perfect punctuation or asking for a student’s opinion on the assigned reading, Julia is home with her dogs, enjoying a good book or crafting!

Emily Ramage served as the English Department’s Presidential Graduate Assistant from 2005-06. While in the graduate program, she received a Williams Travel Award, received first place in the Women’s Studies Program Essay Contest, and taught a section of ENG-1000. After graduating from the master’s program in 2007, she began working as an adjunct instructor and Grants Specialist at Lake Land College. In 2009, she received the Outstanding Master’s Thesis from the EIU English Department and began teaching developmental composition courses for Strayer University. Since that time, Emily has progressed into new roles and responsibilities at Lake Land College, where she works as the Dean of Academic Operations and is responsible for the College’s accreditation. She attributes her professional success to the strong writing background and critical thinking skills acquired during her graduate experience at EIU. Emily lives just outside of Mattoon with her husband, and they have four grown sons, two of which are golden retrievers.

Diana Taylor is a Career Counselor in Career Services department at Eastern Illinois University. After spending over 16 years in the corporate world working in hospitality and sales, Diana came back to higher education to continue her passion for helping college students succeed. Diana's sole focus is to help students investigate, learn, and develop plans and grow into great working professionals. 

Clint Walker attended the Graduate Program in English at EIU from 2009-2011 where his focus was Creative Writing. He currently is the Community Content Coordinator at the JG-TC newspaper in Mattoon, focusing on all items of Community Interest. He also curates the popular daily “Glancing Back” feature. His column, "The Throwback Machine," featuring his musings on items found in the paper’s archives, from local drive-in horror movies like “The Todd Killings” to the history of R.C. Cola in the area, reached the 400th-column landmark in early 2024 and also just received an Illinois Press Association award in the “Original Column” category.