Senior Snapshots: Writing his way into the future

He's leaving college as a Buddhist with an English degree, a concentration in creative writing, and a wealth of personal experience.

"I knew I needed a diploma. Once I got a diploma, I could move on. I had no idea how many ways I would grow," says Derick Dirmaier, A&S '06. He thought practically when he came to Boston College nearly four years ago; when he graduated he wanted a job and thought that a major leading to a concrete career was best. But two and a half years later, after switching to a political science major then transferring to the Carroll School of Management, Dirmaier realized that he needed to pursue what gave him the most enjoyment: writing fiction.

"I realized I couldn't be in the business school anymore. I never had my heart in it," he says. He had been taking a few writing classes as electives to satiate his interest, and one professor understood his dilemma.

"I love writing, but I didn't have time to work on it. One of my professors saw how frazzled I was, and said, 'You know, there is a major where you can write all the time,'" he says.

Over the next year and a half, Dirmaier worked individually with that professor, Ricco Siasoco, creating his own projects and accumulating a large portfolio of pieces he is now showing to various publishers.

"What impressed me most was his enthusiasm for fiction, taking risks from his very first stories and really embracing the craft of writing," says Siasoco. "He does what serious writers do: read, write, figure out how it's put together, read, and write some more."

Dirmaier's undergraduate experiences go beyond writing, though. Last December he visited India with friends as part of a Buddhist pilgrimage. They wanted to see the Tibetan community in the Himalayas and assist in any way needed. It was his studies at BC about Christianity that sparked his belief in Buddhism. "I never really embraced Catholicism. As an organization, I found issues in the church. But through studying Christianity, I realized what it was actually about - the messages, the values - and found that Buddhism was just a better way to practice those values."

His varied experiences provide fodder for his writing. He writes voraciously: poems, short stories, even a fiction novel, which he hopes to complete in the next few years. His one criterion is that the work must make him uncomfortable. "I like experimenting. I try to push it to the point where I'm uncomfortable writing what I'm writing. Whenever I start to feel any sort of comfort, that's when I start to sag," he says.

After leaving BC, Dirmaier will continue to be committed to his work, but concedes that it's hard to ever concentrate exclusively on writing. He's not looking for a career, though, but rather a job. "I'm looking for the most exciting job I can, the job that I'll take the most from," he says. Thanks to his somewhat haphazard past, he's open to all possibilities. "Each time I thought I had it figured out, a new path would appear and I'd take it. I'm very happy with where I've ended up."