My name is Bronte’ Cunningham and I am a second year in IA Scholars. I am from Bowling Green, Ohio and come from a family with a long-standing tradition of loving Ohio State football.
Ever since I was a kid I have wanted to dig some old thing up, I just wasn’t sure if it was going to be dinosaurs, ancient Pharaohs, or old buildings yet. I think I’ve finally figured it out though and am double majoring in history and Anthropological Sciences with a focus on bio-archaeology (ancient Pharaohs it is). I am a hard worker and will battle through anything I can to reach my goals. I am a full time student taking as many credit hours as possible and working 25 hours a week to try and pay for school. I have dealt with sickness and injury and still have managed to keep my grades decent. School is important to me and I am trying my best to continue to do well and support myself. I am going to field school in Spain this summer so I can learn the methodology of archaeology. I traveled to India with the IA Scholars and want to continue to travel to distant and unknown (to me at least) places. I am also looking into different internship options around the Columbus area. After I graduate, I am planning on going to Grad school but am unsure of where I want to go yet. In grad school, I need to get a PhD in my field and then can hopefully start working at a university or museum and going to ancient sites.
I had a normal childhood that was somewhat a mix of country and city life. When I was younger, we lived in the city but went to work on the family farm on the weekends. When I was about 10, we moved out to the family farm. People are so vastly different in the country than the city and because I was exposed to both throughout my life it helped me be accepting to people no matter where they came from, what they looked like, and how they identified themselves. Even though the city to the country is not that huge of a distance, the difference of people is huge. The same thing happened when I moved to Columbus: I noticed how different people were in a city probably two or three times the size of the one I grew up in (Toledo). The way that the different cultures from all over the world mixed and worked together astounded me. College has just continued this experience.
I chose the International Affairs Scholars Program because my majors and interests had so much to do with travel and cultures other than the one which I grew up in, especially if they were ancient ones. International Affairs is important for my majors because, even if it has less to do with the history of a place, the current events in an area are important to be certain how safe an area is and how to be respectful of the culture in the area one is studying. I see so much respect for others on campus and, even though I know there are people who do not accept people with other beliefs, I think that most people are respectful of each other.
IA Scholars has introduced me to many more people and experiences that I never would have been exposed to before. I met some of my best friends through IA and had the most amazing and eye-opening experience of my life in India with Beau, Travis, and everyone in IA. I cannot wait to continue with another amazing year!