Class of 2024: Sydney Lewis

Sydney Lewis is an English and History major with a minor in Spanish from Poquoson, Virginia.

When I took my first step on the Hill, I was: Excited and confident! First days of school have always been so exciting to me!

The me who will ring the Old Main bell on Commencement Day is: The same person I’ve always been, but with so many more valuable relationships and experiences that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

Real-world experiences: In the summer of 2022, I had the privilege of being an editorial assistant for Dr. Mary Bendel-Simso’s Westminster Detective Library, where I spent six weeks exploring online databases and archives to discover and recover detective stories that were written before the syndication of the Sherlock Holmes stories. In addition to actual research and work with the databases and archives, I curated, transcribed, edited, and uploaded these nearly forgotten detective stories to the Westminster Detective Library website.

Most memorably, the feeling of seeing a story through the entire process, from locating it to its online publication, was extremely gratifying. I was also able to attend a networking event with all of the other research students and spoke with several alumni who graduated with my major, which was really interesting. It helped me realize my degree opens so many doors for me and I could do almost anything if I put my mind to it.

My aha moment: Realizing that practice makes permanent, rather than perfect. The more you work at something, the better you get, and that’s what matters.

Footprints I’m leaving on the Hill: I want to be remembered as a friendly face on campus and someone who is always willing to lend a hand.

Faculty or staff member who most influenced who I have become: The two professors who have most influenced who I have become at McDaniel are Dr. Mary Bendel-Simso and Dr. Stephen Feeley. They both pushed me to challenge myself as a student and a scholar, especially in my research position under Dr. Mary and in my position as a peer mentor for Dr. Feeley. Plus, I definitely took the most classes with them!

Best class ever: My First Year Seminar with Dr. Feeley, Rebels in Early America, was easily the most fun class I’ve taken at McDaniel, where we would “react to the past” and take on the roles of historical figures and give speeches as well as debate. It was a chance to get out of my comfort zone as well as make friends, as it was essential to talk with classmates and strategize. It was exciting and competitive, and I loved it enough that I happily agreed to be a peer mentor for Dr. Feeley for the same class my junior year!

Tell us a little about your activities, including sports, during your years at McDaniel: I was a part of the women’s soccer team during my four years here at McDaniel and it brought me some of my closest friends and most precious memories, such as winning the Centennial Conference Championship in 2021 as well as competing in the NCAA tournament in 2021 and 2023. Also, we would hold soccer practices with Carroll County Special Olympics and would help those athletes improve their soccer skills in a fun and constructive environment. I’m also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Sigma Iota, Phi Alpha Theta, and Sigma Tau Delta.

Took me totally by surprise: That Glar sushi is really yummy!

My favorite spot on campus: The library is and always has been my favorite spot on campus; I have been doing all sorts of work there since my first year here at McDaniel, and the convenience of getting a coffee right there from Caseys’ Corner has always been a major plus. It’s calm and everyone in there — students and faculty — are always so nice and so helpful!

Most mind-boggling idea I learned at McDaniel: That Hill Hall used to be a STEM building! All of my English and History classes have been in there and it’s the building I’ve spent the most time in, so it’s strange to think it used to be a building for sciences.

My capstone titles: My English capstone is titled “Jim: The Mother Huck has been Waiting For,” and my History capstone is titled “The Conception of 17th-Century Puritan Marriage and Sexuality in Context with 20th-Century American Culture.”

What they’re about in plain talk: My English capstone is about Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and I use 19th-century mothering guides to argue that Jim is a mother figure to Huck by 19th-century standards. In my History capstone, I examine Puritan marriage, sexuality, and gender in 17th-century New England in accordance with 20th-century cultural shifts that are observable within the writings of 20th-century early American historians.

What’s next: After graduation, I plan to attend graduate school to achieve my master’s in English.

How will you stay connected to McDaniel? Many of my closest friends are younger than me at McDaniel, especially those on the soccer team, so I plan on coming back to campus in the fall to support my former teammates in their matches! I also plan on staying in contact with the professors I have cultivated relationships with as they have made my experience at McDaniel what it is.