Shaped by Change
Some students arrive at college with a hometown story. Ellie Anthony arrived with five. Constant motion has shaped her more than any single place ever could.
Anthony, 18, has lived in five different states and has made several big moves throughout her life. For most people, constantly starting over would be exhausting. For Anthony, it has become a part of who she is.
Anthony is a freshman at Wittenberg, majoring in sport management. Before coming here, one of her biggest moves came during high school, when her family uprooted from Centennial, Colo., to Alpharetta, Georgia, because of her dad's job. (He works for an elevator company.)
“Moving has brought me so many different experiences, people, and cultures,” said Anthony. "It has definitely made me the person who I am today.”
Leaving behind familiar places and friends meant having to adjust to an entirely new environment, she added. She's learned to be reslient.
These experiences have taught Anthony how to adapt. Moving during high school was not necessarily easy, but it gave her the opportunity to meet people she may have never known otherwise. Rather than letting the change define her, she instead embraced the chance to start from scratch.
“I’ve moved from state to state my whole life and by the time I reached high school, starting over had become normal,” Anthony said. “It wasn’t always easy, but it taught me to adapt quickly and connect with new people.”
Beyond the Moving Truck: What Grounds Her
Anthony’s interests are just as varied as the places she has lived in. She listens to a good mixture of rock, country and rap; she also has a particular interest in golf as she is on the golf team here at Wittenberg, and her favorite golfer is Justin Thomas.
If she could travel anywhere, Brazil would be one of her destinations, while attending golf tournaments is another experience she would like to have. Her favorite local golf course is located at the Springfield Country Club.
Away from the golf course, Anthony considers herself a dog person. She has a dog named Baxter, a wiener dog-Shih Tzu mix, which she and her brother named after the dog in the movie "Anchorman." (Her favorite movie is "Talladega Nights.")
On campus, she enjoys spending time around the Weaver Observatory and looking around at some of the older or abandoned looking buildings. Her curiosity seems to extend far beyond the places she has lived. One of Anthony’s favorite childhood memories is a Christmas trip to New York, where she got to see "Hamilton" on Broadway.
When asked to choose four people she'd like to have dinner with, she picked golfer Arnold Palmer, inventor Nikola Tesla, Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy. This group would make for interesting dinner conversation, she said, because she's interested in golf (Palmer), history (Church and Tesla) and politics (JFK).
Anthony’s story is ultimately less about how many places she has lived and more about what she has learned from constantly adapting. Moving can mean leaving something familiar behind, but it can also create opportunities. For Anthony, each new place has added an additional chapter to her story; and college is now the beginning of the next one.
