Meet the MA Students

Yasmeen Abdeljabbar

Yasmeen Abdeljabbar has a BA and MA in English, as well as a minor in Criminology.

Dory Albert

Dory Albert's undergraduate degree is in English and Journalism from GWU. Albert began a career at the Washington Post in Advertising production with plans on becoming a journalist. Albert pivoted to becoming an Advertising Copywriter working for Ad agencies in Boston and then moved to NYC to became a senior fashion copywriter attending fashion shows, etc. Albert then wrote for Revlon and Elizabeth Arden, launching new products on TV, radio and in store. Clients included Karl Lagerfeld and Elizabeth Taylor on their fragrance lines. Albert has had articles published in local newspapers in the Bay Area.

Selwan Amari

Selwan Amari is an English MA student, with a focus in Literature, that enjoys reading, creative writing, and poetry. In the future, she aspires to teach English at the community college level. 

Reginale Aranas

Reginale Aranas is currently in his second year as an MA student, and he aspires to be an instructor at a community college or an English teacher. His hobbies include weightlifting, arts and crafts (Fuse Beads specifically), gaming, and reading.

Liz Asborno

Liz Asborno graduated with a BA in English from SJSU in 1987. She found a copyediting position through SJSU Career Center's on-campus interviews program and has since worked as a copyeditor, proofreader, layout artist, graphic designer, typographer, production manager, art director, and print buyer. She quit commuting in 2018 and now works as a freelance publishing professional for a variety of clients. Asborno is currently a grammar instructor for UC Berkeley Extension’s Professional Sequence in Editing, volunteers with the San Jose Public Library’s Partners in Reading program, and hopes to use her pending master's degree to teach first-year college composition in San Jose's community colleges.

Allyson Finch

Allyson Finch is an educator, ELA curriculum specialist, teacher mentor, and administrator. She grew up locally in the South Bay Area and attended San Jose State University as a first generation college student. Graduating in 2014, Finch earned her Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Creative Writing. To further her teaching development, she continued her education at San Jose State, earning her Single Subject Teaching Credential and Leadership certificate. Finch's credential coursework is featured in Mastering Formative Assessment Moves: 7 High-Leverage Practices to Advance Student Learning (2017) by Brent Duckor and Carrie Holmberg. Finch also received SJSU’s 2014 James Phelan Creative Writing Award in fictional short story writing. She is currently working on achieving her Master’s in English while working Full-Time as the Assistant Director at Fusion Academy Cupertino. Her pride accomplishment working at Fusion Academy was providing superior school quality on campus along with her administrative and teaching team. This would lead the school to receiving the Futures in Education Group 2020 School of the Year Award, the Fusion Education Group 2021 Highest Achiever Award, and, her most treasured accomplishment, the Fusion Education Group 2022 Best School for School Quality. These culminating accomplishments would later allow Finch to present “How Academics meet Enrollment” at the 2021 Fusion Education Group EPIC! Business Conference alongside her Head of School, as well as present “Campus Wide Student Projects in a 1:1 School - Project Based Learning” at the 2021 Fusion Education Group Summer Professional Development.

Aly Gerdes

Having recently completed SJSU's teaching credential and MA-T program, Aly Gerdes is a 7th grade English teacher working on MA in English. Her research interests include post-modern literature and feminist/queer theory. She has many creative and op-ed publications for the REVIVAL Zine at SSU, Zaum Mag, and the Riverbed Review, among others. When not studying or teaching, Gerdes likes to play drums and powerlift. 

Karen Liou

Karen Liou is a SJSU Writing Center tutor and Graduate Student Intern at Partners in Reading who enjoys discovering new music, reading, and thinking about interesting ideas.

Jackie Prado

Jacqueline Prado is a part-time MA student at SJSU. Prado has served in varying roles of writing from caption editing, to working for the San Mateo County Elections Office editing and publishing the popular Voter’s Guide, to now enjoying a successful career in technical writing. As a first-generation college student, Prado hopes to inspire young underrepresented minorities to explore the world of literature.