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Mrs. Erin Foster-O'Riordan (MA 2003)

"Waterloo is a very marketable alma mater."

     Having been motivated by the direction to “follow your bliss” that a wise high school teacher gave her, Erin Foster-O’Riordan (MA 2003) chose to study English during her undergrad years at the University of Alberta. After she completed her BA, Erin was unsure whether she wanted to pursue a graduate degree or attend law school. A professor advised her that law would always be there if she wanted to go in that direction, but since she was in the “English mindset,” she would do well to consider continuing in that vein. She and her boyfriend (now her husband) applied to several schools and found that Waterloo was both the best fit for their interests and the best option in terms of the scholarship funding it offered the two of them.

     Erin remembers life in Ontario as a “very special time,” when she essentially got to know a part of Canada that differed radically from her home province. Alberta’s culture tends to focus on “pioneering – building new things and blazing new trails,” a mindset that has caused many of the historic buildings in Albertan cities to become demolished to make way for new ones. While UW is quite innovative, Erin found it pleasant to live in a place that embraces its own heritage as well as progress. She enjoyed working as a teaching assistant, which gave her an enormous amount of experience; as she taught lessons and graded papers, she learned much about writing, clarity in communication, and diplomacy.  “Many of my students were also not English or even Arts majors, so it was an interesting challenge to figure out how to convince them that principles of good writing are important.” Within her academic studies, Erin was fascinated by the idea that all texts can function as storytelling media. “Technical engineering documents, schematics, and briefing documents all have a story to tell and all have a certain element of persuasion in them.” Her favourite course, taught by Dr. Andrew McMurry, focused on communication through non-traditional media.

     Erin learned things from her graduate work that she continues to use in her career. After she completed her Master’s degree, a desire to be closer to her family took her back to Alberta, where she worked as an historical interpreter for a time before accepting an internship with the Government of Alberta. Today, she lives in Edmonton and works in Alberta’s government with technical experts who develop construction and equipment safety codes. Erin is part of the team that reviews and creates existing and new safety codes for the province. “Along with managing my staff, I do a lot of work on policy-based projects for the way that the codes are implemented and enforced in the province;” her responsibilities require all the creativity, communication expertise, and people skills she developed at UW.

     Looking back on how her experience at UW has affected her career, Erin says: “an MA is a very marketable credential, and Waterloo is a very marketable alma mater. ... I became a better writer and communicator based on my Waterloo experience.” Thanks to the national reputation that the University of Waterloo has, business circles have quickly acknowledged Erin’s great potential for success, and her career has benefited tremendously from her association with UW.