Connie Montoney, a history major who is also earning her license to teach AYA (Adolescent Young Adult) Social Studies, will graduate this spring. The Orient, Ohio native came to Muskingum because of the people she met during a campus visit in the spring of her senior year. Connie explains, “I struggled to make up my mind about where I wanted to attend college until I came on a visit to Muskingum in March of my senior year. I met with Dr. Hilton, who at the time was the head of the History Department. I also sat in on an education class and a history class where I got the opportunity to talk to students and see what a college class at Muskingum looked like. After talking to Dr. Hilton and learning more about the history department and the education program, I decided that Muskingum was where I wanted to attend.”
The opportunity to make connections with faculty members – which might not have happened at a larger university – was another selling point for Connie.
Connie is busy with her on-campus commitments: she is a Resident Assistant (RA) in Memorial Hall, a student worker for the History Department and the Admission Office, and a tour guide. She is also the vice president of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honorary, and a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, the junior/senior honorary. She is a member of the Council for Exceptional Children, which organizes programs for children with disabilities.
In addition to working as a student assistant in the History Department, Connie also completed an internship with the History Department. She describes that opportunity: “Dr. Kerrigan approached me about an opportunity to work with him in the Muskingum University archives in the spring of my sophomore year. He needed help organizing materials in the archives because of the library renovation. Dr. Kerrigan brought in someone who had experience working with archival material to teach [another student] and myself how to accession items into our collection, which is how we add and identify items in our collection. We were then responsible for putting these materials into acid-free boxes and folders to help preserve them better. We helped Dr. Kerrigan sort through much of the material in the archives and organize it so that it will be easier to find once the archives moves to its new location.
“Working in the archives was an amazing experience because I was able to learn more about handling documents, pictures, and other archival material while simultaneously learning more about Muskingum University. This experience was great because it allowed me to work in a field of history that I had never considered and explored before. I now have another option that I could potentially pursue after graduation.”
Connie also completed an internship at the Putnam Underground Railroad Museum in Zanesville where she helped with tour groups and other events that the center held. She has also made several trips with the History Department to visit sites of interest such as The Ohio History Center in Columbus and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
Connie says that she is keeping her post-college options open for now. Because of her education licensure, she will be able to teach, but she could also work in a history-related field or go to graduate school.