Senior Martha Stevens, known by most as Mattie, is a Columbus native who went against familial ties to attend Wittenberg.
When Stevens was deciding which college to attend, she was choosing between Wittenberg, Ohio Wesleyan University and Centre College. Her mother’s entire side of the family attended OWU and she would have been the eighth. Her dad’s entire side of the family attended Centre, in which she would have been the fourth. But instead, Stevens chose Wittenberg, where she had no connections.
When she came to Wittenberg four years ago, she said, “I was absolutely terrified that I wouldn’t make any friends.”
That was the least of her worries on a campus like Witt, however. She got sick with pneumonia the first two weeks of school, and everyone knew her as the “sick girl” from then on.
Attending the university with no alumni relations or current friends, one familiarity of Wittenberg was dance. Stevens has been dancing since she was five years old, so, naturally, she joined the Wittenberg Student Dance Company (WSDC) and auditioned that semester for the Fall Dance Concert. This is where she met many “incredible people and some of my closest friends.”
Sydney Richards is one friend she had known from dancing growing up. Stevens said she was lucky to have her by her side during the college transition. Even though the dance department is “no Juilliard,” said Stevens, she is thankful for all the opportunities to dance in college.
Stevens, and other dancers of WSDC, have performed at Wittfest every year. She also notes how it is nice to be able to choreograph her own pieces at dance concerts and assist with the theater as the Box Office Manager. As the president of WSDC now, Stevens played an instrumental role in presenting and “rounding up the troops” to save the dance program when it was on the chopping block during budget cuts last year.
In addition to dancing, Stevens knew she wanted to go Greek as a college student and she was soon drawn to Alpha Delta Pi. Being incredibly involved with her chapter since sophomore year, she was elected as executive vice president and director of social enrichment and risk management. Stevens also got the opportunity to travel to Scottsdale, Ariz. for ADPi’s Grand Convention which she said was “great to experience ADPi outside out little chapter.” Stevens has also served on Student Cabinet and RotarAct.
Aside from involvement, Steven’s academic focus is as a marketing and psychology double major. She became interested in psychology during high school but realized during college she wasn’t interested in graduate school, so she pursued marketing as an additional major, later finding out there were a lot of overlaps between the two, including consumer behavior studies.
With her time at Witt coming to an end, Steven shared one of her favorite memories of Wittenberg, which occurred while working at the Theater and Dance Department desk. Theater professor Patrick Reynolds walked up to her and said, “Mattie, can I ask you a favor?” Stevens said she, “nervously replied with a yes, and he said ‘I need you to come into my acting class and just sit in the corner. When I cross my arms behind my back I need you to jump up and scream at the top of your lungs.’ And sure enough, that’s what I did.” She then walked out like nothing happened.
“Liberal arts, man,” Stevens said.
Other memorable moments include hanging out with her friends, sisters and neighbors.
“Long live the Dirtystine,” Stevens said with laughter.
Stevens may not miss the dorm life after graduating, but she does have some plans after college. She just accepted a job as a consultant at Weber Associates, a marketing and consulting firm in Columbus, which she is very excited about. Her dream job is to end up working in more business to consumer marketing for a larger company, possibly Limited Brands.
“I really just hope to have a job that makes me feel like I’m making a difference, fulfilled and where I’m pushed to my full potential,” Stevens said.
