Featured Scholar: Quinn Litchtfield

Quinn is a Senior in History from Terre Haute, Indiana. He is part of a Murray State alumni family.

What drew you to Murray State?

 My Dad is a Murray State Alumni and we have a lot of family in the area. So much so that we have a family graveyard over on Land Between the Lakes. I stopped by Murray while visiting family and really enjoyed the campus. It’s small, nice, and close to family. Plus, I got to keep up the tradition of sending Litchfields to Murray.

Why did you choose your major and minor?

I usually give the answer that I chose history because I don’t like science. But in reality, at the end of high school I started to really enjoy my history classes. When I was looking at coming to Murray I did a tour of the history department. I got to meet the faculty and some students who left a really good impression on me. After the tour, I decided that even if I wasn’t a great writer that I’m interested in History and that I would give it a shot. My minor came about in a similar way. I was scheduling classes and saw I needed a few government credits so I took an American Government class. I ended up really enjoying the class. That one class turned into two and before I knew it I had a political science minor. I loved the professors and the topics.

What’s one class or project or experience in your major that you’ve particularly enjoyed or that you’re proud of?

I have two big ones that I’ve really enjoyed. There’s one paper that I started in my English class, on the history of microwaves. One of my professors asked if I wanted to present a project at Scholars Week in the library and I remembered back to that paper. I thought I could fix that up and present it for fun. I did just that and one of my professors suggested that I apply to present the project at an academic conference at Mississippi State University. It was a lot of fun getting to travel with a few other students, who became close friends, and the faculty who I got to know better. All because I was willing to present a paper on microwave ovens. My other favorite project involved research I did while studying abroad on the Spring London trip with Dr. Callahan. I worked closely with Dr. Callahan on a directed study on the British Museum and the controversy surrounding the Parthenon marbles. It became a passion project and was exciting to work on. I spent time researching in the British National Archives and had the chance to explore the British Museum. I even got to stand on business and harass the poor workers with my questions about the museum’s stance on the Elgin Marbles. 

What’s one of your favorite aspects of campus life that isn’t class-related?

As one of the presidents, I’m very involved with the History Club and Phi Alpha Theta, but even outside of the history department there I’ve had plenty of opportunity to get involved elsewhere on campus. Murray might be a small campus but it has a big community. There’s always ways to get involved and meet new people. Just this semester I said yes to helping out with the theater’s production of the Laramie Project. While doing background research and some minor website design I worked with a few other students, who I became friends with, and now I have a DND group! After one of those DND sessions I was crossing the pedestrian bridge and a group of people asked if I wanted to try hopping on a pogo stick. With Murray you just never know what is going to happen and I love it. 

What are your plans for after graduation?

I’ve been accepted into the Public Administration masters program here at Murray State, so I plan to continue my education. After that, who knows! Maybe I’ll enter the workforce. Maybe I’ll continue to be a professional student.

What advice would you give incoming freshmen at Murray State?

Just get involved! Get to know your professors; ask if they have stuff going on; collaborate with them. During my first year, I didn’t get involved that much. It wasn’t until sophomore year that I started to get my foot in the door. It really picked up junior and senior year. Now I’m frequently involved in the department and I love chatting with my professors, plus they’ve given me a lot of great advice! So really just get involved and get to know your professors. Everyone is great, especially in the humanities. I’m not biased, that’s just a fact.