Legacy and Literature

Elizabeth Naugle ’25 | Walker, Minnesota
Major: English Education

Please tell us about yourself.

If I had to describe myself in a few words, I’d say I’m hardworking, honest, kind, authentic, and passionate. I feel like all these attributes are ways to describe who I am overall through the different avenues of my life whether it’s as an athlete, friend, teammate, coach, teacher, or student.

I would also describe myself as fairly outgoing. I love to talk and get to know people. I also enjoy the small things like just sitting in my living room and reading a book. I have times when I’m very extroverted and times when I’m introverted.

What’s your favorite book genre?

I like to bounce around with my genres, but my favorite book I recently read is “The Silent Patient.” It was an interesting thriller, and you don’t see the ending coming. I’m also a sucker for a good romance novel.

How did you hear about Concordia and why did you choose to attend college here?

My dad and grandpa both came here so I’m a legacy student, which is a unique experience. My college plan was actually to go somewhere down south in Florida. I have family there and I have always loved being in the sun. However, I heard of Concordia through my familial ties to the college. My brother has recently graduated from Concordia, and my father and grandpa are alumni as well. So, I toured the school and met with the volleyball coaching staff, and I absolutely loved the environment and the support everyone had given me.

So, Concordia has been in my family. Fargo-Moorhead is a home away from home. My family grew up here, so that’s nice. Because I’m from such a small town, it’s our favorite place to go on a day trip to get the big city type of experience. When I was younger, my dad and his parents would show me all the family heritage from their years in the area — houses they grew up in, house-sitting locations, the schools they attended, and the local favorite spots.

What do you enjoy about the Fargo-Moorhead area?

I like that there are many diverse things to do in the F-M area. I love supporting local and collegiate sports such as hockey, as Concordia has both a men’s and women’s hockey team. As a younger sister of two brothers, I would watch their games growing up so it’s a small part of who I am. I also really enjoy going to watch the Fargo Force junior hockey team. I love the atmosphere and culture the hockey teams carry with them.

There are also the little things that bigger city people may take for granted. For example, I’ve never had a Target or Walmart from where I am from so I love having something simple and accessible that I can go to for my needs. I also love the downtown Fargo area. It has some of the best food and shops to hang around and go to with your friends or family. For my birthday last year, I was dying to bring my grandma and mom to come shopping with me because they’d never been to downtown Fargo. Downtown has its own little culture about it that I just adore. Everyone is so friendly and I love the variety of stores and food. Atomic Coffee is one of my places to study because of the great food, coffee, and atmosphere.

What campus activities are you involved in?

I’m involved in a few. I’m on the volleyball team, of course. I’m part of Concordia On-Air, which is our live TV station on campus that reports the news, sports, and all the things that typical news stations do. I’m also part of the Education Club, which is a fun way for education majors to get involved and attend events. You don’t have to commit a lot, whether you’re going or planning the events. It’s super fun.

I recently joined the RIDE Program. The Reading for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Program connects us with middle schoolers to help them get a diverse reading experience so they’re allowed to make critical connections. It’s important for me to do that because, as an English education major, I want to make those connections and see what students respond well to and what they don’t.

What’s the best part about playing on the Cobber volleyball team?

There are so many great aspects, but our team culture is probably the best part. We are very much a big family, which is kind of crazy because the coaches recruit these random athletes and then they end up being some of your best friends. I like that aspect and the coaches are great. They see you as a person first, then a student, and then an athlete. I really like that they let you focus on being your true self, rather than only being a student-athlete. Both the coaching staff and my teammates have allowed me to become my most authentic self at Concordia and that is something I will always remember about being on my team.

What is your favorite Concordia tradition and why?

Now that I’ve got my Concordia ring, probably Cobber Ring Day. It was exciting. Everyone was anxious but in a good way. It was fun seeing some alumni attend and even my freshman Orientation Leader was there. That was kind of a crazy, small-world moment that he was there when I got my ring. The Concordia ring means a lot. Anywhere you go, you can find someone who has a connection to Concordia. It’s so fun. It opens a lot of opportunities even wearing it to job interviews. They know that Concordia is a very good school.

How did you decide on your area of study?

I come from a long line of educators. My dad has been a science teacher, an athletic director, and an assistant principal, and his dad, my grandpa, actually worked in the Moorhead School District. There’s just a lot of teachers in my family. I enjoyed my English classes, so I thought maybe I’d be interested in English. And then I love coaching and, if I’m a teacher, I can be involved in coaching. I like influencing students’ lives and that’s what pulled me to the education major. I want to interact with students and lead them to be the best version of themselves.

I want to interact with students and lead them to be the best version of themselves.

My career goal as a teacher is to give students the ability and opportunity to foster a love of reading. I think there is a great deal that can happen if students have the opportunity to read. There are a variety of positive aspects that come from reading, such as creating interpretations, building empathy, learning about identity, and learning about the world around you. Concordia has prepared me to achieve my goals by providing important literature courses and allowing me to get in touch with the world and classrooms around me.

How did you decide on English?

Growing up, I was not a great reader. I struggled with that a lot. Finding books at the right level to read was really important for me. After COVID happened, that’s when I started exploring reading and I just couldn’t put a book down. I felt like I could have a great discussion with students about any aspect of a book. That’s what influenced me to go that route.

Do you have a favorite education course? What did you like most about the class?

My favorite education course has been the one I have taken most recently, which is Technology, Instruction & Ecology of the Secondary Classroom — EDUC 352. I absolutely loved this course because it had a 50-hour clinical component and because it was taught by Dr. Darrell Stolle. This course was crucial to my learning experience due to the lessons and discussions taught within the class and in my clinical classroom at Cheney Middle School in West Fargo. My clinical teacher, Megan Haskins, is a Cobber grad. Mrs. Haskins had great insight into what a successful classroom looks like both with structure and instruction/learning. Mrs. Haskins gives her students the freedom to be who they want to be within her classroom in addition to wanting them all to succeed. Mrs. Haskins gave me a great experience as I learned from her but also as I taught a handful of lessons that I developed for her unit. She gave me free rein in her class, which I am forever grateful for as it gave me confidence in my teaching self and it also allowed me to learn what works best instructionally for the middle school classroom in order to succeed.

Have you had any internships or teaching experiences? If so, what were your responsibilities and what did you learn?

I worked as a paraprofessional when I went home over break, which was really exciting. It was elementary students, which isn’t my preferred age to work with, but I was excited to work with students in general. I learned a lot from this experience as a paraprofessional. I had to learn how to think on my feet to redirect students in order for them to “buy into” what was best for the classroom setting. This experience really reiterated what I have learned in all of my education classes: help students get into a position so they can succeed — whether it is their intelligence, their emotional needs, and/or social needs.

What do you value most about being a Cobber?

I really like the educational value that is here. I didn’t know if I would like being part of a smaller campus because I am from a smaller city so I knew everyone walking by, but Concordia has that big and small feel to it. You know some people but you still don’t know everyone on campus, which is super nice. I love the community aspect that Concordia has to offer. Everyone here is very supportive and wants the best and most success for you!

I also really like the classroom setting. That was something I wasn’t sure of when coming to Concordia just because the class sizes are small. But it’s probably my favorite aspect of the learning experience here because the faculty care about you. They are very understanding and empathetic. They only want what’s best for you and they want you to succeed, which is something that my friends don’t get at bigger universities.

What are your career goals and how has Concordia prepared you for life after college?

Concordia is preparing me in a lot of ways for life after college. I’ve taken a lot of amazing English courses that have prepared me to think through a critical, diverse, and interpretive lens, which is something I feel high school students need more of so they can make those connections on their own. I took Global Literature, Imagination, and Empathy with Dr. Amy Watkin, and she is my favorite professor. She’s amazing and has creative insights in the college classroom, which has inspired me to take those aspects into the high school classroom. Then I had a class with Dr. James Postema — Intro to Literary Scholarship. It talks about critical lenses to see literature through and that course was probably the most educating English class because you’re given these perspectives and then look through and explore more about them in your own way.

What advice would you give to a high school student who is considering Concordia?

Start by getting on campus and reaching out to people. Professors love talking to students. They want to get to know you. I feel like a lot of freshmen think Concordia is a small campus. But to be honest, that’s a good thing, right? You’re allowed to make those connections that will last a lifetime. First-Year Orientation is super important. Those are the foundational parts where you’re going to make your friends. They may not be your friends forever, but at least you have those connections that will last.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your Cobber experience?

I would say get involved on campus. Getting involved will make your college experience a lot more fun and create long-lasting relationships that you will be able to remember forever. ROLL COBBS!

Published August 2024