Busch Returns to Her Roots

By Madi Blanford ’21 / Photos by Ty Cornett

It has been 10 years since Dr. Megan Busch graduated from Charleston Southern, charging forth into the professional world with an English degree and an entry level position at Charleston Home + Design magazine.

In fall of 2021, she returned to her CSU home—not as a student—but as a full-time professor of English, equipped with a decade’s worth of journalism, marketing, and teaching experience.

When a young Busch first arrived on campus as a CSU freshman in 2007, she entered into an English program very similar to the one that exists today. Dr. Scott Yarbrough, then professor of American literature, trained his students in the artistry of the modern American novel. Dr. David Phillips, professor of early English literature, graded students’ papers with ruthless, tearevoking precision. Dr. Nancy Barendse, professor of rhetoric and composition, laid the foundation for amateur writers’ knowledge of English grammar and mechanics.

“The professors made the program,” Busch said. And now, she has joined their ranks, stepping into the position of Barendse, who recently retired. Busch is teaching Advanced Composition and Rhetoric and History of the English Language.

Barendse said she still remembers having Busch in class, the quintessential English major with a planner covered in sticky notes and memos. “Dr. Busch was one of the most organized students I’ve known,” Barendse said. “She always had all of her work done, on time and exactly right. She was the kind of student faculty dream of getting.”

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in The Buccaneer Beacon, a product of Dr. Jason Peterson’s students. Madi completed it in Advanced Reporting class. She graduated in 2021 with a BA in English with writing emphasis and is now living in Kentucky.

Busch’s impact went beyond her reputation as an exemplary student within the classroom. In her three and a half semesters at CSU, she joined Sigma Tau Delta, the literary honor society, tutored in the Writing Center, and interned with CSU’s marketing and communication office, helping to create CSU Magazine.

When she wasn’t working with the school, Busch gained real-world experience as the editorial intern for Myrtle Beach’s Grand Strand magazine. She also blogged for Roxy and Quiksilver, the popular surf and swimwear brands based out of California. At the time of her CSU graduation, she was more than qualified for her first official job as an editorial assistant at Charleston Home + Design magazine.

From there, her career took off. In a few short years, she climbed her way up from editorial assistant to editor to managing editor, the highest position at Charleston Home + Design. All the while, she studied to get her Master of Arts through The Citadel and the College of Charleston’s joint program. Busch also completed the occasional article as a freelance writer. This is how she happened across her next endeavor: Momentum Marketing.

In 2016, Busch said her goodbyes to Charleston Home + Design to pursue a position with Momentum, an agency that represents high-profile clients in the automotive, fashion and culinary industries. Suddenly, she was traveling cross-country to host events, test-driving luxury vehicles, and managing large-scale social media platforms. For a small-town South Carolina girl, this experience was close to surreal.

Dr. Megan Busch works one-on-one with a student during class time.

However, even in the driver’s seat of a foreign car, her heart remained with academia.

“Becoming a professor was my dream job,” Busch said. “It’s what I’ve wanted to do since high school, [but] there were many years that I wasn’t quite sure it was going to happen.” Around this time, Yarbrough stepped in to guide her back into education. Busch began teaching 100-level courses in the evenings at CSU, taking an adjunct position to get her bearings as a professor. She said she enjoyed these classes immensely, but in order to progress, Yarbrough was very clear: Busch needed to earn her PhD.

Back to school Busch went, commuting from Charleston to Columbia to complete her education at the University of South Carolina. All the while, she continued writing for Momentum and teaching lower-level classes. As Busch received her PhD in English Composition and Rhetoric, Barendse announced her retirement as CSU’s only professor of Composition and Rhetoric.

“I do not think it is a coincidence that she is completing her degree just as I am leaving,” Barendse said. Though Busch was not simply handed the job upon graduation, there was an air of expectation and excitement within the English department as she began the application process. Her former status as one of CSU’s star students still lingered in the minds of many who once taught her, and even those who did not have the opportunity to teach her met her throughout the years, like Dr. Celeste McMaster, current chair of the English department, who said she formed a close, professional relationship with Busch by meeting for the occasional lunch or cup of coffee. All the while, McMaster said the department encouraged Busch to finish her education and apply for a position at CSU.

Certainly, Busch’s numerous achievements and credentials earned her this position, not merely her connections. The department is overjoyed to have an alumna on staff— someone trusted, respected and well-known in the CSU community.

“I’m rather opinionated and protective when it comes to ‘my’ classes,” Barendse admitted. “[But] I am very happy to leave them in such capable hands as Megan’s.”

Busch is married to fellow alum, Jordan Busch ‘10, ‘14 MBA, and they have one son.

As the saying around campus goes, once a Buc, always a Buc.