Erin Gorman, Class of 2009
Erin Gorman, class of 2009 from Medina, Ohio, exemplifies a Wittenberg student who is aware of, and benefiting from, the boundless opportunities the university offers. Gorman is a history major with a double minor in pre-modern and ancient world studies, and sociology. Even with the immense workload, Gorman maintains an impressive 3.8 grade point average.
After submitting a paper to Wittenberg’s chapter of the national history honorary Phi Alpha Theta last September, Gorman was invited to the organization’s biennial conference in Albuquerque, N.M. For a student with aspirations of someday earning graduate level degrees in history, the experience was invaluable.
“Not only did I get to present my paper in front of a panel of peers, including graduate students and professors from all over the country, but I was able to hear other presentations and panels about the kinds of research historians and students of history are doing right now,” Gorman said.
Gorman has embraced the many opportunities offered at Wittenberg, and she has found her light to pass on through them.
“The greatest passion I have found here at Wittenberg, aside from my studies in the history department, is the desire to grow and expand myself academically,” she said. “Wittenberg has consistently met the challenge and continued to push me forward.
“My professors have been one of the highlights of my time at Witt, and the quality of education is outstanding.”
Along with being recognized for her intellectual papers, she also traveled to Egypt with Associate Professor of History Darlene Brooks Hedstrom for a five-week archaeological dig outside of Cairo in 2007, and she is now interning in the Anthropology Department at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
“Dr(s). Brooks Hedstrom and [Associate Professor of History Amy] Livingstone also encouraged me to minor in the new pre-modern and ancient world studies program that Wittenberg has just started offering,” Gorman said. “My professors have taken a deep interest in helping me pursue something that is a little off the beaten track. It is opportunities like these that show how personal Wittenberg really is.”
Gorman said Wittenberg has given her an “incredible amount of support” throughout her academic endeavors.
“Through Witt I have received a grant for research, an opportunity to work as a supplemental instructor to a first-year class and was well-prepared for an internship at a professional research institution,” she said. “My friends who go to other schools are often amazed at the support Wittenberg has given me and many others.
“I think Witt really has an edge, and transfers that edge to its students.”
After Wittenberg, Gorman knows she wants to go to graduate school and is considering getting her Ph. D.
“An idea that has started to appeal to me more is becoming a college professor myself one day,” she said. “I really like the idea of taking history, something I am so passionate about, and bringing it to life for someone else.”
- Photo by Robbie Gantt