Kris Robinson
Name:
Kristopher Jon Robinson
MSU Degrees:
BA in English, 2009
MA in English, 2011
Any other degrees:
Associate of Applied Science (Computer Networking Technology), East Mississippi Community College, 2018
Favorite memories of being an undergraduate English major:
Any time when I was in a 4000 or 4000/6000 split-level course – the discussions I had with my peers and mentors were as entertaining as they were informative.
Current Position:
Systems Administrator
Organization:
Denver Westword
When you graduated with a degree in English from MSU, what were your plans for your future?
My immediate plans after undergrad were to earn my Master’s degree in English while working as a GA, and then I wanted teach English overseas as an ESL instructor.
Has your career path mostly realized those early plans, or have you discovered new plans and goals along the way?
For the first five years of my professional life I did mostly realize those early plans – I taught English full-time as a lecturer at MSU, and I also worked at the English Language Institute with international students and Athletic Academics as an English tutor; however, in 2016 I made the decision to go back to school for my Associate’s Degree in Computer Networking Technology.
What is your current occupation, and what does your work mostly consist of?
I am currently the Systems Administrator of Denver Westword. I deploy and maintain a fleet of computers across four different national markets, as well as work on larger IT projects such as implementing single-sign on setups, upgrading and monitoring cybersecurity systems, and managing infrastructure upgrades.
Which skills that you learned as an English major do you use most in your job?
There are three skills I obtained from my English degree that I use every single day: reading, writing, and research. My profession lives and dies by email, so being able to quickly ascertain what someone is asking of me in an email’s body text or being able to quickly answer someone’s question via a reply is crucial. The research skills I obtained allow me to efficiently scour the Internet or intake white papers with confidence when I am searching for a troubleshooting answer or investigating a new hardware or software product.
What additional skills did you need to learn in order to do your job, and how did you learn them?
The additional skills that I needed to learn for this position came from my Associate’s Degree in Computer Networking Technology and my CompTIA A+/Network+ certifications. I obtained this degree and these certifications from East Mississippi Community College, just down the road from MSU, from 2016 to 2018.
Are there common misconceptions about your career field, which current English majors might share, that you have learned the truth about?
I think folks often divide jobs into STEM and non-STEM silos, and perpetually claim “never shall the two meet.” I want to dispel that illusion – I would not be anywhere near as successful or capable as I am now in my very technology-focused career without my English-degree education. Being able to communicate effectively in the 21st Century means using email and chat, so being well-versed in the written word is a huge asset that made my current career path possible.
In what ways does your career enrich your life and help you to achieve your personal as well as your professional goals?
I really enjoy working at a lifestyle/culture magazine – Westword is a weekly publication that still puts out a print issue for free around the city of Denver, in addition to website articles. Our IT team is small, so I get plenty of opportunities to sharpen my professional skills on advanced, large-scale cybersecurity and networking projects that might not be afforded to me at a larger company. Personally, my wife and I like to travel a good bit, so this career path has enabled us to do that quite regularly.
What advice do you have for undergraduate English majors right now who might want to follow the career path you did?
Earning a Bachelor’s degree in English is a worthwhile investment – the practical skills you obtain from it, such as learning to read and write at a high level, as well as conduct sound research, are invaluable in a world that increasingly emphasizes electronic communication via the written word. However, I’d also like to note that the soft skills you gain through an English degree, such as learning about the nature of humanity, both our triumphs and our ills, is equally invaluable. The world is simultaneously bigger than ever before, but also smaller than ever before – being able to navigate it with a keen eye skewed towards empathy and understanding, which is a trait that can be gained from reading and analyzing literature, is not to be underestimated.
[Updated August 2024]