Karen Roth held a variety of odd jobs before committing herself to higher education: she painted houses, waited tables and once owned two women's shoe stores.
May 29, 2007 (Press Release) --
(May 24, 2007)--Like a lot of nontraditional students who have come through UTSA, Karen Roth held a variety of odd jobs before committing herself to higher education: she painted houses, waited tables and once owned two women's shoe stores. Now Roth, who is associate director of the Tomás Rivera Center for Student Success at the UTSA Downtown Campus, has added another title to her long résumé: novelist.
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In 2006, Roth, who earned both her bachelor's and masters degrees at UTSA, independently published her first novel, "Found on 16th Street." The Depression-era tale is set in a Czech community in Roth's hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In writing the book, she wanted to honor her own Czech heritage and to immortalize a vibrant community and way of life that largely vanished after World War II, when immigrants her parents' age wanted to assimilate into the American lifestyle.
"That's my goal for writing historical fiction," she says, "that people will find out about different cultures and how people had different world views. But you do all this with the thrill of a story, of a narrative, rather than reading a dry history book."
Roth studied literature and journalism at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, but got married, dropped out of school and moved away by the time she was 20. She eventually completed her bachelor's degree at UTSA in 1996 and, a month later, joined the staff of the university as a developmental reading and writing specialist. In 2000, she became coordinator of the learning assistance program and later the same year earned a master's in adult higher education.
"I was 35 when I came back [to school], and I was just like a fish put back into water," she says. "The fact of the matter is working at a university is very inspiring. I'm energized by the time I spend with students."
Similarly, the tale in "Found on 16th Street" is an inspirational one, and Roth says one of the reasons she wrote the book was because she sees a lack of spiritually themed literature in bookstores and on the bestseller lists.
"If no one buys them, I'm going to go ahead and publish them anyway because I love to write so much," she says. "For me, this has brought back the joy of learning. It's the joy of doing something that you want to do, the joy of putting your whole heart into something for the sheer love of the work that you're doing."
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Today's headlines
UTSA to host meeting on transportation center
Volunteers are needed for Texas Folklife Festival
UTSA Athletics kicks off summer camps in June
UTSA hosts info session on Fulbright scholarships
Article tools
UTSA Today home
Printable Format
E-mail this story
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text size– | + | R
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In 2006, Roth, who earned both her bachelor's and masters degrees at UTSA, independently published her first novel, "Found on 16th Street." The Depression-era tale is set in a Czech community in Roth's hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In writing the book, she wanted to honor her own Czech heritage and to immortalize a vibrant community and way of life that largely vanished after World War II, when immigrants her parents' age wanted to assimilate into the American lifestyle.
"That's my goal for writing historical fiction," she says, "that people will find out about different cultures and how people had different world views. But you do all this with the thrill of a story, of a narrative, rather than reading a dry history book."
Roth studied literature and journalism at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, but got married, dropped out of school and moved away by the time she was 20. She eventually completed her bachelor's degree at UTSA in 1996 and, a month later, joined the staff of the university as a developmental reading and writing specialist. In 2000, she became coordinator of the learning assistance program and later the same year earned a master's in adult higher education.
"I was 35 when I came back [to school], and I was just like a fish put back into water," she says. "The fact of the matter is working at a university is very inspiring. I'm energized by the time I spend with students."
Similarly, the tale in "Found on 16th Street" is an inspirational one, and Roth says one of the reasons she wrote the book was because she sees a lack of spiritually themed literature in bookstores and on the bestseller lists.
"If no one buys them, I'm going to go ahead and publish them anyway because I love to write so much," she says. "For me, this has brought back the joy of learning. It's the joy of doing something that you want to do, the joy of putting your whole heart into something for the sheer love of the work that you're doing."
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