This week, meet Anastasia McGettigan, a sophomore English major with a professional writing concentration with minors in creative writing and family business and entrepreneurship.
Throughout her time at Elizabethtown College, McGettigan has found several ways to get involved in the campus community, including joining the staff of Etown’s literary magazine Fine Print, co-hosting the open mic nights at the Bower’s Writers House and working as a peer mentor.
“I absolutely love being a peer mentor,” McGettigan said. “I love making other students feel at home at Etown.”
McGettigan’s desire to welcome Etown’s incoming students stems from her own feelings of belonging, which began even before she enrolled.
“When I came here, I felt an instant connection,” she said. “I knew I was meant to be here, and that’s what made me apply.”
McGettigan explained that she had only visited Etown’s campus after receiving some promotional mail and decided to “check it out, just in case.”
“I wasn’t originally planning to go to college until I toured Etown,” she said. “I was never academically motivated in high school, so I figured, why bother?”
Now, McGettigan has even been inspired to continue her education beyond her graduation from Etown, hoping to someday pursue a PhD.
In the meantime, McGettigan has been taking full advantage of everything Etown has to offer. She was awarded the first-place prize for the Evelyn Poe Writing Award, which is given to students in first-year writing classes for demonstrating exceptional ability. Additionally, McGettigan studied abroad in England for two weeks, an experience she described as “absolutely fantastic.” She plans to return to England for a full semester this spring at the University of Brighton.
“I’ve gotten so many opportunities here, and I feel like I am really seen by my department for my efforts,” she said.
McGettigan also works at the Masonic Village as a server, a job she finds enjoyable.
“The residents always have such interesting stories for me,” she said.
Despite the experiences she’s been able to have, McGettigan wishes she could do even more. As much as she loves the work she does, she finds it prevents her from branching out to more aspects of the campus community. In addition to her current activities, she would like to join the Women in Business, Photography and SEEDS Ecology Clubs.
Outside of her classes, McGettigan loves to ski, journal and take nature walks around Etown’s campus. She also enjoys writing poetry, particularly in an exploration of nostalgia and childhood, and is currently working on producing a poetry zine.
In addition to writing, McGettigan expresses her creativity through photography. With a digital camera she received in 2014, she photographs a variety of subjects, and frequently posts them to her Instagram page, @anastasias_crapcam.
Overall, McGettigan expressed that her time at Etown has been preparing her for the future, which she expects to be a career in content writing or technical writing.
“The professional writing program is great, and I really want to shout out the English professors,” she said. “They are all fantastic and do such an amazing job.”
