A 2005 graduate, Halcomb’s OSU studies earned him two Wentz research awards and a scholarship that took him to York University in England where he conducted original research on 17th century religious history. Halcomb also traveled with OSU’s Office of Scholar Development and Recognition students to Oxford, England, where he studied literature with Blaine Greteman, OSU’s first Rhodes Scholar. That experience inspired him to apply for the British Marshall Scholarship, for which he was a finalist in 2005. In addition, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History selected him for a summer internship in New York City, making him one of only 15 students in the nation to be named a 2004 Gilder/Lehrman Scholar. This year Halcomb’s academic accomplishments earned him membership in another select group of students, the Gates/Cambridge scholars. He received a full-cost merit award funded by the Gates Foundation for graduate study at Cambridge University, which he will use to pursue his doctorate in religious history while studying with the most influential scholar in the field. Cory Cheney It’s Academic, Dr. Watson Wilhelm Borchert Theater in April and May. “I was supposed to be doing a theater-management internship at the Roland Theater, but what I ended up doing was a lot of advertising and publicity work for them.” The Wilhelm Borchert Theater offered more opportunities, she says. “I was hired to work as an assistant for costume production for their big summer show, which opened in May. Since it was such a small theater, I ended up also working on some set pieces as well as assisting the stage manager and director during many rehearsals.” Herbel says the three different theaters gave her invaluable insight into her future career. “I definitely learned a lot about how different types of theaters operate and also what working in the professional theater is like. And of course, I learned to really speak the German language, although people there often wanted to practice their English skills with me, so a few times I had to ask them to please speak to me in German.” Herbel says Europeans impressed her with their tangible support of theater and art. “As a society, Germany simply places a greater value on art than we do as a society in Oklahoma. I saw many plays in Germany and other places that one would never be able to see in Oklahoma because there wouldn’t be enough interest to sell a sufficient number of tickets. And yet, in Germany, these performances were almost always sold out.” Between her internships and afterward, Herbel traveled extensively with various friends and relatives throughout much of Germany as well as Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Egypt, France, Hungary and the Slovak Republic. “I think my experiences of this past year will help both my education and my career, in that I have given myself a whole new viewpoint and frame of reference,” says the Denver, Colo., native. For example, while organizing the internships two years ago Herbel was amazed at her friends who said they wished they could do something similar but automatically decided it was impossible. “If you think that way, of course you can’t!” Herbel says. “I have a whole new world of possibilities open for me. When I graduate, I am planning to apply for job offers that interest me not only in the United States but in Europe as well,” she says. “I mean, why not? I don’t think I would have ever even thought of that as a possibility if I hadn’t had this adventure.” When Joel Halcomb realized his ambitions were academic in nature, he ended his after-high-school career as an electrician. He enrolled at OSU as a math and history major and excelled. Janet Varnum courtesy Phil Shockley Emily Herbel Joel Halcomb Oklahoma State University 23
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