Alyssa Eaton
What song or songs will always remind you of your time at Wake Forest? Why?
“Dreams” by The Cranberries. I like listening to this song as I walk around campus as it reminds me that my own dreams are within reach and I can forge my future to be the best that it can possibly be.
Wake Forest’s Pro Humanitate motto is a guiding philosophy for many students and alumni. Did it have an impact on your student experience and has it influenced your plans for the future?
I see Pro Humanitate everywhere I go on campus. All of the organizations I am in have some community service aspect, which I highly value as I am from Winston-Salem and appreciate seeing others help the city I so dearly love. As I move into my career, I want to give back to the public and educate people on history in an accessible way so people can better understand their own history and other’s history.
Wake Forest has lots of traditions, and sometimes students create their own. Do you have a favorite Wake Forest tradition?
Lighting of the Quad. My Dad took me to one of these when I was little, and I was mesmerized by the light all around campus. I love going back every year and celebrating the holidays with my friends, drinking hot chocolate, and seeing everything light up.
Imagine you return to campus for your 10-year reunion. What do you hope will remain the same? What do you hope will be different?
I hope that my love for my experiences at Wake Forest will be the same and that I will be able to see a campus full of students enjoying their studies and working towards their highest potential. I hope in the future that I will hear less complaining on Wake Forest campus. I think sometimes we as students forget how lucky we are to be here and that we are transforming our lives for the better which only takes hard work. I need to remind myself of this sometimes as well.
Now that you are a graduating student, what advice do you wish you could have given yourself as an incoming student four years ago?
I wish I could have told myself to slow down and that everything will fall into place as it should. I have constantly been worried about the future when I should have been enjoying my present.
Compare your career plans as a first-year student with your career plans now. Why did your plans change or not change?
My career plans did not completely change throughout my time at Wake, but they definitely evolved. I thought for a long time that I wanted to be a museum curator, but over time, I realized I either wanted to work in conservation or education. They have changed based on my amazing study abroad experiences and the jobs that I have held on campus that have introduced me to different departments in museums and careers.