Student Profile: Abbey Sullivan
Perhaps one of the most valuable aspects of the Chatham experience is the community. In such unprecedented times, I (Abigail Kneuss ‘23), have become increasingly grateful for this community and its members. In an effort to showcase just a few of these great people, I’ll be doing a series of student interviews in the coming weeks. These highlights are for students, about students, and by students. This week features Abbey Sullivan ‘22.
Even if you’ve never met Abbey, chances are you’ve read some of her works. As the Opinion Editor for The Communiqué, Chatham’s student-run newspaper, Abbey acts as the voice of the student body in most editions. Learn more about Abbey, her work with the Communiqué, her must-reads, and what she’s learned during her time at Chatham below!
Abbey Sullivan
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Major: English & History
Hometown: Erie, PA
Q: What made you want to study English and History?
A: I’ve been a writer since I was a kid and I continued that through high school, so I’ve kind of always known I wanted to study English. History was something I became really interested in because of Chatham. I had taken a couple of history classes as electives when I started here. They were so interesting and the professors were so great that I decided to add it as my other major in my Sophomore year.
Q: Can you tell me more about your work with the Communiqué?
A: I worked on my newspaper in high school and I really enjoyed working in collaboration with a community of writers, so I decided to join the Communiqué my first year at Chatham. I started just as a contributing writer, but my second year I spearheaded the start of an opinion section in the paper where myself and others wrote opinion pieces on campus happenings. This year we started a guest opinion section where we give people across the Chatham community a space to talk openly about things going on in our campus environment.
Q: Outside of your studies, what do you enjoy doing?
A: Writing! I’m a big creative writer. My goal is to self-publish a book to be available on Amazon before I graduate from my undergrad. It’s in the works now with the help of a friend of mine and I’m making great progress. I’m also a big movie watcher. Obviously, COVID has really redefined what I and others do with our free time. I try to get outside as much as I can to see friends from here or from home in Erie in a safe setting.
Q: Why do you feel it’s important for the Chatham community to follow COVID procedures?
A: At the baseline, it’s important because it’s the only way we can slow the spread of COVID and begin to move past it. On more of a societal and community level, it’s important because it protects people like me who have underlying health conditions from being put at further risk for contracting it. If everyone follows the procedures, it makes the semester experience fair and egalitarian at Chatham.
Q: What are 3 books you recommend for people who are looking for something to do right now?
A: My favorite book of all time is Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger. I’m actually planning on doing my capstone on his works. A Visitation of Spirits by Randall Kenan is a book I just read for class. It’s very emotional, but it’s very good. I’m also a big Kurt Vonnegut fan. I love God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. He’s probably my second favorite author.
Q: What do you feel is the most important thing you’ve learned during your time at Chatham?
A: I came from the smaller city of Erie to Pittsburgh and I’ve met a lot of different people here. I’ve always considered myself an open-minded person and coming to Chatham, I’ve had to put that theory into practice as I’ve met people of all kinds of gender and sexual orientations, race, nationality, and ages. It has shown me how to be an ally and how to be a more empathetic person. Much of the student body here are activists in the community and they are good people who actually want to implement change in the world. People like that here are probably what I value the most about Chatham.