Well-Connected: Megan Becker
According to Megan Becker, she's got her politics side and her singing side. When she arrived at Penn State, she was able to find ample connections to both-and then some.
Although her heart was set on going to school in an urban area, Becker came to visit a friend at the Schreyers Honors College, and loved what she saw. The first person to attend college in her family, Becker, who hales from Gilbertsville, PA, quickly found her way around, discovering the plethora of opportunities Penn State has to offer. She quickly honed in on her particular passion.
"I love to sing and I was in choirs all through high school," says the senior. "The choir directors at Penn State make fun of me, saying that I really get around."
And Becker does get around musically, because she enjoys virtually all types of singing. In her first year, she was in an original opera presented at a national, bicentennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark expedition. She then auditioned and was invited to join both the University's concert choir and the Essence of Joy, an ensemble that performs sacred and secular music from the African American tradition. She also sings her own compositions and plays guitar with a friend at the HUB-Robeson Center.
"For me, singing has been a great way to meet people and get fabulous opportunities," says Becker. "I've performed with Penn State choirs in Los Angeles, New York, throughout the south, and next summer in Las Vegas. I've never really had a spring break since I'm always on tour."
On the politics-and academic-side, Becker is just as accomplished. The recipient of the Tracy Winfree McCourtney Scholarship, Becker is majoring in international politics and media studies with a minor in international communications. She recently finished an internship in Washington D.C. at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, a military service college that prepares selected military officers and civilians for senior leadership. There, she assisted on a research project which focused on the effects of private security companies on the national defense budget. The professor she was working with at the Industrial College was also creating a new class on the topic.
"It sounds strange but I discovered I really enjoyed developing the syllabi and course curriculum," she says. "The experience convinced me that I want to go into academia."
The way Becker found the professor was a "typical" Penn State connection: when she applied to intern at the Industrial College in Washington, she received a letter from a woman who worked there, Eileen Daniels, telling Becker that not only was she an alumna, but she used to live in Becker's dorm.
"That connection was tremendously helpful," she said. "The professor she arranged for me to work with eventually helped determine what I'd like to pursue."
Becker is currently applying to graduate programs at Stanford, Princeton, and UCLA.