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On Writing & Speaking

A fortune cookie once told me: writing is a craft, not an art. I try to live by this fortune cookie's wisdom. I definitely don't view writing as a talent; my writing is full of practice, hard work, perseverance and diligence.

Lauren Magaziner ’12 — author of children's books

Expressing yourself clearly and effectively is the single most important tool you can develop, and it carries with you through your life. Today, I’m in the business of communicating at one of the most highly respected communications companies, and what got me here didn’t come from Columbia Business School. It came from Hamilton.

Barry Seaman ’67 — former special projects editor and White House correspondent, Time magazine

Hamilton’s writing-intensive curriculum and my experience in the Writing Center have been invaluable to me in my professional career. Although I arrived at Hamilton with a general understanding of how to formulate an analytical argument, I truly learned how to write at Hamilton.

Bethany Baker Booth ’98 — former Writing Center tutor

As an attorney, being able to write persuasively and to present effective oral arguments are essential tools. I can honestly say that I apply the skills I learned as a writing tutor literally on a daily basis … As I’m writing I almost have a mini-conference in my head as I ask myself what I’m trying to say and how to best organize my thoughts.

Kajal Chattopadhyay '93 — former Writing Center tutor

The advice I give my clients is what I learned and shared every day in the Writing Center: A good idea is worthy of the time and effort required to communicate it effectively.

Sean Ryan ’97 — former Writing Center tutor

Of little value are your wisdom and discoveries if you cannot successfully express them and thus impress the public and render a social service. Never let Hamilton’s emphasis on composition and delivery be lessened.

Archibald L. Love, Class of 1876

Writing is fundamental to learning. Most students read something from beginning to end, highlighting information along the way, but they aren’t really processing any of what they read until they analyze, discuss, summarize, synthesize and write.

Barbara Tewksbury — Upson Chair for Public Discourse and professor of geosciences

Most importantly, Hamilton is a place in which students are surrounded by brilliant, funny, happy and truly nice people – both students and faculty. People are helpful and students work with one another rather than compete against one another, which is important. Also, there are plenty of opportunities to do research and to dive into fields one is passionate about.

ELISABETH MACCOLL ’16 — biology major

Being in medicine, you think that science is the most important part of your education, but through the course of my career, being able to write well and be a reasonably good public speaker have proven to be tremendously important.

Christine Laine ’83 — editor, Annals of Internal Medicine (youngest in the journal’s history)

Hamilton focused on speaking, writing and critical thinking. I do those every day. If you can do those three things, you can do almost anything.

Bill Smith ’80 — special assistant to the president and general manager, Minnesota Twins

Writing clearly is a prerequisite to being able to think clearly, which in turn is a prerequisite to almost everything else in the real world. One could not escape from Hamilton without mastering those skills.

Gordon Boak ’64