Whether it’s listening to NPR on his drive to work or a serendipitous moment of creative thought, alumnus Austin DeMarco ‘ll finds inspiration in just about everything. “Once an idea hits my brain, I have to write it down, have to explore it to its logical conclusions. Storytelling fascinates me, and I can’t imagine doing anything else,” DeMarco said.
While he attended Etown, DeMarco pursued a professional writing major with a creative writing and physics double minor. “My goal was to write science fiction, so I figured an understanding of science would help me to create compelling, realistic scenarios,” said DeMarco. Two years later, DeMarco now works for IGI Global, an international academic book publisher, as an editorial assistant in book development, where he works with authors and editors to prepare manuscripts for publication. Due to the scientific content featured in IGI Global’s books, DeMarco is able to marry the knowledge gained from both his major and one of his minors.
DeMarco truly feels that his Etown education prepared him for postgrad life: “I draw on lessons from many of my professional writing courses in determining exactly how to talk to my editors in addition to what I’m saying in order to address concerns and diffuse potentially volatile situations when problems emerge,” DeMarco said. He also considers Etown’s emphasis on critical thinking an important asset and tool applicable to the workplace.
In addition to working at IGI Global, he writes freelance articles — the most recent were published in North and South and Pennsylvania Magazine. Currently, he is gathering research for an article on the Battle of Gettysburg, which he’d like to get published for the 150th anniversary in July. However, it’s not all work for DeMarco — he has multiple creative projects on the side. His creative works in progress include: a short story, a flash fiction piece and a young adult novel. “It’s not uncommon for me to have three or four projects going simultaneously, but I love it,” he said. In December 2012, DeMarco received his second honorable mention for Writers of the Future Contest for a science fiction piece.
Throughout his time at Etown, DeMarco participated in multiple musical ensembles such as the symphonic band, orchestra, brass ensemble and jazz band. Additionally, he was president of Literati for two years, in which he managed the club and organized events which, according to DeMarco, often felt like a full time job. During DeMarco’s senior year he took a playwriting course to fulfill a requirement for his creative writing minor. It was in this class that he experienced his fondest Etown memory. He submitted a play he wrote for the class to a 10-minute play competition and was pleasantly surprised. “My play won a runner-up position and was performed at Millersville University. To see my characters come to life on a stage, to hear the audience laugh and cry with them, even if only for a very short while, was an experience I’ll never forget,” he said.
Recollecting his time at Etown, DeMarco said, “I think the best part of Etown was the people — classmates and professors. Living on a small campus with friends only a short walk away meant plenty of opportunities for interaction, but now that we’ve all graduated and scattered across the country, it’s a lot harder to keep in touch and a lot harder to meet new people.”
DeMarco encourages us to keep our minds open to inspiration and is a living example that one can pursue their passions in the most unexpected ways.