Gold Award Girl Scout Sarah Hickox

Sarah Hickox, Mississippi University for Women Class of 2008 was a girl member of Girl Scouts for for 11 years and is now a Lifetime Girl Scout.  She tells us " I started Girl Scouting in Florida as a Brownie and continued once I moved to Mississippi. Most of my years were spent in Troop 807 in Meridale Girl Scout Council, which later became Gulf Pines. I earned my Silver Award for doing repairwork to an obstacle course at Camp Meridale (Meridian, MS) and my Gold Award for compiling a Council History. I did research on Camp Meridale, Camp Iti Kana and Girl Scouting in the area. I did a presentation, made badge boxes, and had fundraisers for facilities to display memorabilia which I had collected at camp. I also created a website, which is mostly in still working order and can be visited here. It's funny to be on this side of the survey. I've spent years asking others to tell me their favorite memories and now I find it's difficult to choose what to share!"

Sarah continued: "My earliest Girl Scout memories are of my Brownie investiture ceremony and wearing my Brownie sash. I remember we had a nurse come to one meeting and she couldn't find my pulse. That's quite a scary experience for a 5 year old. I thought I didn't have a heartbeat at all! My Mom was always my troop leader and she was a great one. We did all the classic crafts--sit upons, potato stamps, string art, weaving, beading...tons of things! Camping was probably my favorite and we had the best camp. Camp Meridale is special, because in addition to tents we also had Covered Wagons and Treehouses. The Brownies stayed in the Covered Wagons, Juniors in Treehouses and older girls in the tent unit. I quickly stepped into the role of song leader and became known as "Tweety" at camp because I was always leading songs. I became a Program Aid, CIT and Counselor all a bit earlier than I strictly should have because I was homeschooled and was a grade ahead. I do miss camping and being a counselor! I hope I'll be able to do that again one day. My last year at summer camp I ran a unit called "Footlights by the Firelight" and we put on a shortened version of The Wizard of Oz. I went on to be a Theatre major at MUW and am pursuing a degree in Theatre Outreach at University of London this Fall. Girl Scouting really gave me a lot of great tools that I still use today. I haven't had the chance to be a Troop Leader yet, but I hope to return to Girl Scouting as a leader someday."

I looked at Sarah's website, and if you are at all interested in the history of Girl Scouts in Mississippi, or in general Girl Scout history I think you'll find it fascinating, I know I did.

Blog Spotlight: Best in Class

Today we're introducing a new weekly feature: the Blog Spotlight. Every week, we will introduce you to MUW alums who write about their lives, careers, families, and hobbies on their own blogs. If you would like to be featured, contact us!

Blog: Best in Class (http://bestinclassblog.blogspot.com/)
Blogger: Leigh Pourciau ('08), Jackson, MS

A middle-school teacher, Leigh created Best in Class two months ago. "My blog started as a highlight reel of all the humorous and enlightening moments that occurred in my classroom--the things that my students said and wrote that I didn’t want to forget," she explains. In addition to sharing some of her students' more enjoyable antics, Leigh also occasionally addresses educational issues and discusses "educational theory in layman's terms." She has also recently started a series called The Retrospective Project, in which adults share memories of and lessons learned from their own middle school experiences.

When asked how she came up with the name of her blog, Leigh says, "As you probably know, 'best in class' means top of the line. For me, it means those stand-out moments that make me love my profession--the risks that students take in their writing that pay off and the observations they make that surprise me. These times sustain me as an educator."


Leigh Pourciau (right) and class


Leigh has had a passion for writing as long as she can remember, but for a while, teaching precluded her own work. Being a self-proclaimed "avid reader of blogs," Leigh chose to start her own as a way to continue her love affair with writing on a regular basis. "I decided that having an immediate audience that expected updated content would hold me accountable to write," she explains. The benefits of blogging are undeniable. "My instruction feels much more authentic now that I’m writing several nights a week," she says, adding, "I know I’m a better teacher when I practice what I preach."

Some of Leigh's recommend blog reads are:

• 1001 Rules for My Unborn Son
• Dollar Store Crafts
• Incredible Things
• Marshall Ramsey
• Mississippi Library Commission Reference Blog
• Passive-Aggressive Notes

If you would like to contribute your (fond? scary? emotional?) memories of middle school to The Retrospective Project, contact Leigh for more details. And make sure to add her informative and highly entertaining blog to your daily reads ASAP!

Alumna Profile: Megan Stoner Morgan

Another student and teacher is Megan Stoner Morgan, MUW Class of 2008, who was originally from Caledonia, Mississippi.  While at the W, she was a member of  Mortarboard, and Sigma Tau Delta, editor of Dilettanti,  a member of the French Club and the College Democrats.  Megan served as President of the  Student Honors Council and was a member of Bukwyrms and Midnight Writers.

Megan is now in a Ph.D. program at the University of Georgia where she teaches First-Year Composition, a class that helps freshmen with their analytical writing skills. She told us "I was inspired by my teachers at the W. They are the reason I went to graduate school, and I still consider them my models for what teachers should be. At the W, I was always expected to be prepared to share my ideas and knowledge in class, but I also knew that my contributions were valued and welcomed. I try to foster that same environment in my classes. I also learned to not be easily intimidated, which helps when you're teaching basketball players! I love hearing what students think about the things we read and discuss. Often they'll approach an issue in a totally different way than I had planned, and the discussion ends up being richer than I ever imagined. Surprises like that are such a treat."

Every job has its challenges and Megan's biggest one is working with students whose education before college was not what it should have been. "It breaks my heart to see really smart students struggling with basic mechanics issues like spelling and grammar, and thinking that they're just stupid because they have problems. Trying to keep those students encouraged can be rough, but it's very worth it."

Legacy Scholarship

I am excited to tell you that we will be awarding the first MFAeA Legacy Scholarship in a few weeks. Many of you have indicated a desire to contribute specifically to this scholarship, and I want to give you the opportunity to contribute now. Your contributions will help make The W Experience possible for future students. Please join me in supporting this scholarship.

The value of the scholarship is the amount of tuition for the entering student's first semester of attendance at The W. The recipient of the scholarship this year is George Stoner, brother of Megan Stoner Morgan ('08), and his first semester will be the 2010 Fall Semester. The tuition for the 2010 Fall Semester is $2,322. We have a good start on this fund, but still need approximately $1,000 to make it over the top and get a good start on next year's fund.

If you would like to make a contribution to the MFAeA Legacy Scholarship Fund, please send your check to our treasurer, Deborah Hodges at 800 Hillcrest Road, Building 1, Mobile, Alabama 36695. If you would like to pay by credit card, please email her and she can make the arrangements.

Your contribution is tax deductible.

Thank you for your generosity,

Lillian Wade
MFAeA President

Congratulations, Megan Stoner Morgan

Some folks like college life so much that they don't quit after one graduation; they go back for more. Megan Stoner Morgan, Mississippi University for Women class of 2008, an English major with a creative writing emphasis, is one of those. While at The W, she was involved academically with Mortar Board (Chair of Faculty/Alumni Relations), Sigma Tau Delta (President, '07-'08), Student Honors Council (President, '05-'08), and the Southern Women's Institute, where she interned from '06-'08. She also edited The Dilettanti literary magazine (along with co-editors Nicole Aranda and Teri Peters) from '07-'08. She was a charter member of the now-defunct BukWyrms reading club and participated in the MUW chapter of NOW (National Organization of Women), College Democrats, and French Club. During her semester studying abroad in London in spring of '06, she interned with the Safer London Foundation as an assistant for their charity project manager. In her spare time at MUW, she was an English and writing tutor for Academic Support Services, a student administrative assistant for the College of Arts and Sciences, and a figure model for the Art Department.

On May 8, 2010, Megan added a Master's Degree in English Literature from the University of Georgia to her list of accomplishments.  When asked how her years at MUW prepared her for further study, Megan stated, "Because the English department at the W was pretty small, I was able to take almost every English course they offered during my time at the W, giving me a wide-ranging background in my subject that was of immense help once I started graduate work. Also, because of the small size and the discussion-based format of nearly all W classes, I was already used to doing graduate-level work by the time I graduated; my W professors simply expected that you came to class having done the reading and full of ideas to share, so that wasn't a learning curve for me. An additional benefit was my experience with the Ina E. Gordy Honors College. I had to write an honors thesis in addition to my senior capstone paper, the research and writing of which took place over an entire year. In the fall of '07 I took a research trip to the UK (paid for by a mini-grant from the Honors College) to work in library and museum archives with primary sources for the thesis, and so by the time I had to write my MA thesis, I already knew exactly what to do. I've met graduating senior English majors from UGA, and they're lucky if they've ever had to write a 15-page paper, so I know the preparation I got at the W is something special."

When asked to compare MUW and UGA, Megan told us, "UGA is so big that the graduate students and undergraduates don't typically mix except in teaching scenarios. However, for the past year and a half, I've worked as a teaching assistant/grader for professors in various senior-level seminars, so I've gotten to see the work of a wide range of undergraduate English majors here and I'm friends with a few of them. While it's possible to develop close working relationships with faculty here, the department is so large (we have over 800 undergraduate English majors) that it requires a lot more tenacity on the student's part not to get lost in the shuffle. UGA has over 26,000 undergraduate students, so obviously campus life is a lot different from the W - you have to take buses to get from one part of campus to the other! In my opinion, the W provides a much more personal education experience and a more nurturing environment in which to grow and thrive. You can definitely graduate from UGA with a solid education and well-prepared for a career or grad school, but it
will take a lot more struggle, and I don't sense the same sort of intensely close-knit community amongst UGA students and alumni as I've found at the W. The W will always be home to me."

Megan plans to stay in Athens for at least the next five years pursuing yet another degree, her Ph.D.  "I start teaching my own classes in the fall, and I'm hoping to start work on my dissertation - on the impact of the railway and other Victorian technologies on British identity - in a year or so. My husband (a W guy in spirit if not in actuality) is applying to the MFA (creative writing) program here at UGA - I like to think my English major has rubbed off on him. In my extremely rare free time I make jewelry and I've begun a steampunk adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma."

Mississippi's First Alumnae Association wishes Megan and all other MUW alums getting advanced degrees all the best.