Alum follows in professors' footsteps
July 22, 2009
When he was in high school, Weston Nunn was certain about two things: one, that he loved history, and two, that PC was not his top college choice.
But, as surely as his childhood fascination with knights and castles gave way to one for imperial Russia, his thoughts about placing PC at the top of his list also changed. Before he expected to hear from his top choice, Nunn received an acceptance letter from PC and another letter that further showed the college’s interest in him. During his senior year at West Florence High School, Nunn committed to PC.
“Soon after, I slapped the block PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE decal on the back glass of my old Jeep,” he said, “and halfway through my first semester of my senior year of high school, I was already wearing PC t-shirts and looking forward to football games at a brand new stadium.”
The Florence, SC native declared history as his major the third day of class at PC. Dr. Rick Heiser became his advisor, and Nunn was on his way to following his passion.
“Over the next four years I took all the history classes I could get into,” he said. “(History professor) Dr. Roy Campbell and I hit it off, and I really loved his classes. We even spent time with each other outside class, playing golf and jawing about PC football.”
Nunn also developed friendships with professors in the religion department and declared religion as his second major during his junior year. He also decided that he wanted to teach history at a liberal arts college or university.
Professors help choose the right school
During his senior year he began applying to graduate programs where he could earn his master’s and Ph.D. degrees. Although he had a solid GRE score, was in good position to graduate from PC summa cum laude, and was competent in Hebrew, Greek, and Russian, Nunn wasn’t accepted to the first graduate program he applied to, UNC-Chapel Hill.
“But Dr. Campbell stepped in one day and said that I had been applying, as an undergrad, to UNC against people with masters' degrees already,” Nunn said.
Campbell recommended Florida State, where he and Heiser earned their Ph.D. degrees.
“Because he knew my career goals of teaching at a small, liberal arts-style college that focused on educating undergraduates,” Nunn said, “(Campbell) further recommended FSU, as the university provides excellent teaching opportunities for its graduate students.”
Campbell and Heiser wrote letters of recommendation for Nunn. Accepted in the fall of 2007, he recently earned his master’s degree in history with a 4.0, focusing on Modern European and minoring in the Middle East.
Nunn awarded with teaching position
Earlier this spring, Florida State awarded Nunn with a teaching position for the 2009-2010 academic year. He’ll teach a course to 60 freshmen on Middle Eastern Civilization, the same course that Campbell taught when he was a Ph.D. student at Florida State.
Nunn hopes to earn his own Doctor of Philosophy degree by 2012-2013. He is currently beginning work in Modern Russian history, while minoring in the Middle East, Modern Europe, and Early Modern Europe.
“I want to make myself as marketable as possible for a teaching position at a liberal arts college or university where I can focus most of my energy on my students,” he said. “I want to engage my students and to invest in their personal and academic development like the history and religion faculty did for me.”
“PC more than adequately prepared me for graduate studies,” Nunn added. “I was used to hard work, challenging assignments, and lots of reading by the time I started FSU. In fact, my GPA at FSU is higher than my college GPA, further indicative of the strength of the undergraduate curricula at PC.”
In addition to being a member of Phi Alpha Theta (the history honors society) at PC, Nunn was a member of the Honor Council, Moveable Feast, and Theta Chi Fraternity, serving as its senator for two years.
posted by Stacy Dyer '96
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