Economics

I grew up in Gladstone, living on Little Bay de Noc of Lake Michigan. My parents, Gary and Mary, have six children; my twin sister Emily and I are the youngest (although I'm five minutes older than her so technically she is the baby). At Gladstone High School, I ran cross-country and track all four years, I played trumpet in the school's concert and jazz bands, and I acted in drama club. Here at Hillsdale (where my sister attends as well), I ran cross-country for two seasons and track for one before I quit the team. I still run but not nearly as often as I would like. I'm currently the news editor of the school paper and I am a resident assistant at Koon Residence. As for my general interests, I enjoy reading (Hemingway and the WWI poets are favorites), photography, movies, music, and ice fishing.

My mother, very much against my will, forced me to visit a small liberal arts school in southern Michigan where her and my dad's friend, Gary Wolfram, taught economics. Dr. Wolfram gave my sister and me a tour of the College. Beyond the beautiful campus and small class sizes, the half-tuition scholarship from the journalism program, and the opportunity to run collegiate track, what else does a guy need to choose a school but a personal tour from Gary Wolfram?

Once when I described Hillsdale to my brother Aaron, he told me it sounds like I'm attending college in the 1920s. I thought that was pretty funny, and, upon reflection, accurate. Hillsdale is a wonderfully old-school place. I enjoy knowing my professors and I admire their commitment to liberal education.

I plan on pursuing a career in journalism. I'm not entirely sure where that will take me. Hopefully not to the same places it took Hunter Thompson.

Perhaps this is a copout, but Hillsdale is such a unique place that simply being here is a unique experience. The professors wear tweed and smoke pipes, and all the students know each other. I have had multiple conversations with our president Dr. Arnn. These things don't happen at other schools. For a specific experience, I interned at National Review in summer 2012 as part of the WHIP program. If I'd attended a bigger school like Michigan State or Michigan, would I have had the same opportunity? Probably not. Hillsdale is a small campus with a huge national presence. WHIP was a wonderful experience. I lived in the college-owned house on the corner of 5th and D Streets, two blocks away from the Kirby Center. The location couldn't have been better -- I walked by the Capitol Building, Supreme Court, and Library of Congress every day. As part of WHIP, I traveled to Gettysburg, listened to lectures from Hillsdale professors and congressmen, and, I think most importantly, lived in a community with other Hillsdale interns. The connection among all of us, young and interning in D.C., was a very good experience.

I heard a not-to-be-named English professor stapled a McDonald's application to a student’s paper. That's pretty funny.

The core convinced me of the importance of a liberal education. Coming out of public school, I had a pretty utilitarian approach to learning. Go to college, earn a degree, get a job. But I always felt a little cheated, mostly in the humanities. We never touched a philosophy book in my entire K-12 education, history came from a textbook, and the most complicated literature I was assigned in high school was "Catcher in the Rye." The core introduces students to source material and the great tradition of Western education. The core has awakened within me a desire for knowledge for the betterment of myself, not just the job I could get in four years.

cwhitmer92@gmail.com