Megan Throne said she’s always been a self-proclaimed “nerd.” When she was little, she would curl up in the corner of her L-shaped couch to bury her nose in whatever book she could get her hands on. So what about when she grew up? Well, she still escapes to the comfort of her cozy corner. The only differences are the difficulty of the novel, and she’s added a cup of coffee and a blanket.
One of Throne’s favorite thing to do growing up was walk the isles of Barnes & Noble, pick out anything and everything that looked appealing and snag it at the library. While she was never a Harry Potter kid, her first favorite book series was a fantasy series called “Warrior” by Erin Hunter. Currently, her favorite author is David Mitchell, author of the popular novel “Cloud Atlas.”
While Throne has known she wanted to pursue English Literature since the eighth grade, Plattsburgh State wasn’t always her first choice for undergraduate college.
When she visited the PSUC campus, her tour and activities were canceled because of a snowstorm. Her mother “being her mother” insisted she call the English Department to see if they would meet with her the next day.
To say the least, Throne was grateful for her mother’s suggestion.
“I just knew when I left that meeting that this is where I wanted to come,” Throne said.
Growing up as a shy child, Throne said coming to Plattsburgh has allowed her to open up, participate and even really enjoy class discussions in addition to loving reading, analyzing and writing papers.
She said, “it just fits for me.”
Associate Professor of English Elaine Ostry’s first class with Throne was a Shakespeare course, which is where she witnessed Throne’s “extreme quietness.”
“I didn’t know what her voice sounded like,” Ostry said. “ I didn’t know what to expect when I was grading papers, but I had a pleasant shock.”
Having had the budding English student in three of her classes, Ostry said Throne has completely come out of her shell and is an excellent and rather impressive student.
Ostry can tell Throne finds joy in reading, and like any successful English student, she is a natural bookworm.
The bookworm in her has helped Throne to gather the skills to hold three diverse internships throughout her college career.
During the summer of 2013, she interned at Rizzoli New York, a publishing house that features fashion, cooking and culture. Throne said it was a great experience because it allowed for her to live in New York City and learn how the publishing world works.
A year later, in the summer of 2014, she tried something a little different by interning at the Syracuse University Press. She found it fascinating being part of an academic press and working with acquisitions and marketing. She has also worked with the North Country Cultural Center for the Arts as a publicity intern, served as a “Grammar Guru” for professor Nora Montanaro and helped to edit content for the Cardinal Yearbook.
English professor and Throne’s academic adviser Anna Battigelli describes Throne as brilliant, intellectual, curious, driven and really good at setting goals and attainting them.
She said Throne’s internship opportunities are inspiring because she feels some students may be timid in positions like those.
“I just think the world of her.”
Throne said she dabbles in different types of writing like poetry fiction and most recently, her playwriting class. After being published in the on-campus literary journal, ZPlatt, her freshman and sophomore year, Throne became the editor during the 2013-2014 academic year.
In addition to learning how much responsibility it takes to create a literary journal, Throne was able to read student work, learn their strengths and weaknesses and become comfortable with delegating tasks.
“The best benefit was definitely seeing all of the creativity on campus,” she said. “I really love reading all of the students’ works, and it was an honor to be able to pick from them and put it together.”
She admits her time spent at school has been mainly academic extracurricular activities, but Throne has also been part of the Outing Club where she went on a mountain hike and explored Plattsburgh with her friends.
Throne, nearing the end of her undergraduate career, eagerly awaits graduate school acceptance letters in hopes of pursuing English Literature with a possible concentration in 18th century literature.
Ostry said English is more than just feelings — it’s logical. She believes Throne sees it very clearly because she pays attention to how language is used, and that is why she can apply a high sense of logic to analyze text.
“I was happy when she told me she would be pursuing a Ph.D in English — she will be a really great scholar,” Ostry said.
Email Brittany Shew at fuse@cardinalpointsonline.com.
