Student Story

I’m hoping I can connect people to things they aren’t familiar with.”

Alicia's love for travel is what drew her to Catawba. She attended a college fair during high school, and found that the Catawba representative gave her a clear answer about travel and study abroad opportunities. Alicia felt comfortable that she would have chances to travel if she came to Catawba. Having always wanted to explore the world, she chose her major and minor accordingly, a business administration major with a concentration in international business. She is curious about life and wants to learn about the culture of other places and how people tin other countries live.

After taking a music business class with Dr. Jeff Little, who is a music industry insider as a renowned bluegrass musician, Alicia realized she also had a passion for music, and added a music business minor to her already busy schedule. She is a junior at Catawba, but plans on graduating in 2028. Alicia knows she never wanted to work for someone else for the rest of her life. She thinks that smaller positions in a company can teach someone how to lead, but in time, she wants to move up, to learn and continue to expand her knowledge. Alicia knows that she prefers using her mind to doing physical labor.

As a member of the Tom Smith Fellows scholarship program, Alicia's favorite thing about being part of the program is the opportunities it brings. Students who are awarded scholarships through the Tom Smith Fellows maintain academic grades, participate in several business related events each year, and serve as role models to the campus community. The Fellows program gave her the chance to fly on a plane for the first time in her life during a trip to New York. She has been able to do things with the Fellows that she wouldn’t be able to do anywhere else. She appreciates the expertise and optimism that Catawba and the Tom Smith Fellows program bring into her life and how both the program and Catawba help her envision her future. She likes the versatility Catawba gives her, helping her be more well-rounded and teaching her how to polish her skills and her resume. Outside of classes, Alicia is in the Catawba band and is the social media manager for the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA).

When she's not busy with all of that, she enjoys spending time with the people she loves. The little free time she has on a day to day basis is spent traveling to Charlotte to visit her boyfriend. She enjoys going to the city because it gives her even more opportunities to do things she’s never done before and to gain more experiences. She loves doing new things, “just to say, hey, at least I can say I’ve done that.”

One of Alicia's favorite things about Catawba is how personal it is. She loves that she can walk into class and ask her professors about their day and their lives. She appreciates when teachers share personal anecdotes related to the material they are teaching, and looks to connect her own experiences with what she is learning. Catawba doesn’t seem as intimidating to Alicia as a bigger university. Her favorite place on campus is Ketner Hall, where she enjoys feeling professional and being surrounded by other business majors. She likes what she calls the “old school vibe” of Ketner Hall and how everything seems put together. Alicia also enjoys spending time studying or hanging out with friends in the Lilly Center Coffee House, the Center for the Environment, and her residence hall.

Alicia’s future career is still up in the air, but she would love to work as a music or tour manager to handle the business side of a music career while also being able to travel. She would also love to be in charge of something creatively, like a creative director. She wants to be able to help tell a story with music and help smooth the cultural divide that sometimes appears in the music industry. “I think that music, especially with how it’s been in recent years, has been very local. When something is different or foreign, it’s scary. We don't really like change. I’m hoping I can connect people to things they aren’t familiar with,” she says.

If she could tell her high school self one thing, it would be: “It’s not as bad as it seems. People think that college is scary because we’re all alone and in our heads a lot, but I’d say come in with an open mind and no fear because it has so much to offer. I’m learning and growing so much.”