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Alumni Spotlight: Clay Delk

Clay Delk

Clay Delk Headshot | Virginia Tech
President of the Distinguished Alumni Board 2022. Title: Principal Content Designer, Lattice Inc. Degrees: M.A., English, Virginia Tech, 2005 and B.A., English/Communications, Virginia Tech, 2002.

How has your degree in English helped you succeed in your career?

I do a lot of writing, so obviously that part of the degree is really helpful. But the part that I come back to more these days, and the part that I explain to others, is critical thinking. A big part of my job as a designer is to look at a design or experience we’re building and think about how it might work for a new user, or for someone in different contexts. That’s the real practice that I got as an English major — being able to look at something that most people take at face value and turn it over to see it from a totally different angle.

What advice do you have for current students in the Department of English?

Don’t limit yourself in the careers and opportunities you go after. An English major is so much more than just writing or rhetoric. We need good communicators and strong critical thinkers everywhere.

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