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Ms. Shirley Lichti (BA 1980, MA 2004)

     Shirley Lichti (BA 1980, MA 2004) credits the co-op program for introducing her to the variety of jobs open to an English major: “I never would have dreamed of working for a company like IBM had it not been for the co-op program.” Her co-op studies allowed her to experience many different professional environments, in government and in the corporate world. Her first co-op placement was as a writer for the federal and provincial government in then-Premier William G. Davis's office. After that, she worked for IBM and stayed there for the remainder of her co-op terms. “Being a co-op student changed the nature and direction of my career dramatically,” she says.

     In the middle of her second year of studies at another institution, Shirley realized that 90% of the students in her class wanted to go into teaching, as there weren’t many other good jobs for English majors. She transferred to UW for the co-op program, which she hoped would improve her chances of getting a good job after graduation.

     During her undergraduate years, Shirley remembers the English program as being small. There was a thriving camaraderie between the students as they put on plays and sat in the Modern Languages coffee shop, discussing things such as the meaning of life. Being from a small town, she found the experience of meeting and interacting with people of different religions and ethnic origins enlightening. She is still in touch with some of her classmates now, nearly 30 years later.

     Two of Shirley's favourite professors were Dr. Keith Stone and Dr. Bob Gosselink, whom she viewed as fantastic lecturers. Dr. Gosselink in particular was a mentor to her. He took a real interest in his students both in class and in their personal lives: “He would bend over backwards to help you, which was great.” By the time she finished her undergraduate degree, Dr. Gosselink tried to convince her to begin graduate studies, however, Shirley wanted to work.

     While still at UW, Shirley took a course in a computer programming language, then known as the FORTRAN (The IBM Mathematical Formula Translating System). It was helpful in her first full-time job as a Systems Engineer with her former co-op employer, IBM. Her role was technical in nature and “people were stunned that I had an English degree. Never in my wildest dreams would I have considered this job without my experience in co-op.” During her time at IBM, she worked in many fields, including sales, advertising, executive education, and international marketing.

     Years later, Shirley returned to UW to earn her master's degree. The Language and Professional Writing program allowed her to pursue her interests in marketing and she took many courses that dealt with user interface, e-learning, and marketing. She did a reading course with Professor David Goodwin and her thesis with Dr. Paul Beam, both of whom helped her to tailor her degree towards marketing.

     Currently, Shirley resides in Waterloo with her husband and son, who is currently studying engineering at UW. She runs a company, Marketing Magic, which specializes in marketing and communications and is also an instructor at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she teaches a variety of marketing courses.