Tyson Morgan

Macalester College, English major, graduated May 2009

Current hometown: Houston, Texas

Age: 26

Live at home/rent/buy your own home? Rent

Current job? Teaching assistant (I’m a graduate student at the University of Houston).

Enjoy what you do? Enough.

Major milestones the last four years: Moved from Minneapolis to Houston to start grad school.

If you’re comfortable sharing, how much college debt are you still carrying? A gentleman never tells.

So, the big question: Was it worth it? Yes. I learned a lot about the field I was interested in, English. That said, I don’t know if it would have been worth it had I not been so interested in something that required a college degree. Maybe I would’ve been better off entering the work force directly out of high school. Who knows.

Is your job now related to your major? Yes, I teach composition and literature classes.

Please finish this sentence: “When it came to college, my parents were right about . . .” Sorry, my parents never gave me a sit-down talk about college.

What are you hoping for as you look out over the next 10 years, personally and professionally? Hoping to become a published fiction writer and a creative writing professor. Hoping to travel to interesting places during my time off, play in a rec basketball league, learn to work on my car, continue to build my sneaker collection.

Do you feel your college experience plays any role in those goals? Yes; I’m still in the field I was interested in during college. I’m still inspired by the people who taught me there and the people I went to school with.

Grads face a new world: Maine college freshmen are trying to spend less, learn more and think jobs.

‘Explore careers.’ ‘Engage in classes.’ ‘Show up.’ ‘Go for it!’: Older, wiser: Our former freshmen offer advice to the class of 2017

Following the Freshmen: Where are they now?

Since the Sun Journal stopped following the original 15 students in our “Following the Freshmen” series in 2009, bringing to a close our four-year college project, they’ve established interesting lives, careers and pursuits. And gained a lot of perspective on the value of their educations. We were able to catch up with 11 former freshmen and quiz them about life, college and future goals, and how school played into all of it.

• Jennifer Berresford: In the pharmaceutical industry, pet foster-mom-to-be
• Tracy Bradley: Helping others get fit, enjoying Boston
• Sasha Campbell: Dancer, mom, busy lady
• Alison Coleman: Moving up the ranks at work, still fitting in softball
• Danielle Eaton: Marketer, mom, grateful former Bostonian
• Brian Erickson: Engineer open to new adventures
• Matt Jones: Computer engineer in Rhode Island
• Loren Lepage: Helping others rehab and loving it
• Elizabeth Mitchell: Taking life and career to the West Coast
• Tyson Morgan: Learning, teaching, writing
• Ryan Reed: Teacher, husband, dad