15 minutes with Sophie Marcum
Note: After being shelved far too long, the Icon brings back our "15 minute" interviews. This features a recent conversation with Sophie Marcum. We've invited Sophie to provide some additional interviews with some of her classmates. Watch for them.
Where do you attend college, what year and what is your major and minor?
I’m a rising sophomore at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. My major is Management and Leadership and I actually created my own minor which I’ve dubbed “Social Change.”
Please explain your major to me.
Management and Leadership is one of the smallest majors in the business school. Rather than dealing with concrete concepts such as finance, marketing, or information systems, Management and Leadership focuses on the human component of organizations. I get to study people within the context of business and learn about what makes for effective management.
My goal while in college is to learn how to enact sustainable change in communities and organizations for their betterment. This is where my minor comes in. By learning about both the functionality of people and how to develop social change I can hopefully turn my knack for leadership and passion for social justice into a career based in such service.
Do you have an opportunity to do any studies abroad?
Yes, and I’m very excited about them! I’m going to spend this upcoming spring at Miami’s campus over in Luxembourg and explore Europe as much as possible while I’m there. Then during the following summer I plan to stay in Ireland. Ireland is just fascinating to me and I have this long harbored desire to spend some time over there. Ideally I would spend my time doing service projects and traveling, but we’ll see what opportunities open up once I get further into my research.
Where is your most recent roommate from?
Barrington, Illinois, which is a suburb of Chicago.
I understand you were the BHS homecoming queen. What went through your mind when they announced your name as the queen?
My grandfather, actually. He had died exactly one month prior to that night after a long battle with leukemia. During our last conversation he shared a story from his own senior year of high school. At his school there was no election for homecoming king, only a queen. Once the homecoming queen was elected, whoever she chose as her date was then the king alongside her.
Coming from an extremely poor family, never having nice clothes, or being particularly charismatic, my grandfather told me there were many boys in his class who he felt far surpassed him. However, the homecoming queen his senior year asked him to be her date to the dance and thus he got to be homecoming king.
All of these years later he was still humbled and touched by the actions of that classmate, so much so that I watched tears form in his eyes as he recalled the experience. He was the most deeply spiritual person I’ve known and that was the last story he left with me.
So being elected a month after his death drew to mind the power of humility as he had shared it with me. When they announced my name it was an affirmation of the way I had been interacting with people and a reminder that wherever you are in your life you will always have the opportunity to touch another’s.
What is the worst movie you ever saw (one that you’d like to have your money back). Why?
The movie I would like my money back from was not so much bad as it was forgettable. So forgettable, in fact, that to this day I cannot tell you the name of it. I do recall the experience of going to see it and the disappointment that followed.
A few years ago my friend, Sara Chappell-Dick, and I were sitting in the Shannon Theater. Before the movie started while commenting on the local ads as we so loved to do, we both realized that neither of us could remember what movie we had come to see.
Once the movie started our excitement was renewed however afterwards I remember being horribly disappointed in the movie. It was one of those with no real stand-out qualities that followed a highly predictable and generic story line.
Anyways, to this day we cannot recall the name of the movie and only have a lingering memory of disappointment. For this movie I’d like my money back.
What’s your favorite all-time movie. It would be one that you can mouth all the words to. How many times have you watched it?
Moonstruck! I’ve seen it more times than I can count and will likely never stop appreciating it.
You are working at Common Grounds this summer. What’s the most ordered drink people ask for?
People love our Caramel Macchiato and our Luke Latte - which have the same ingredients but are assembled in different orders. They’re great hot or iced so they’re popular year round.
What type of books do you read? Is there a favorite author?
Oh goodness, too many types! I enjoyed classics and satire in high school. In college I’m picking up more books on spirituality, social justice, philosophy, gender equality, and business.
My favorite author from this past year is Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest, who writes on Christian mysticism in a universal way and focuses on the relationship between action and contemplation.
Can you remember your first-ever sleep-over with friends? Where was it, who was there, how long did you stay up?
It was with Katie and Meghan Hooven. The three of us stayed at their house and unfortunately I can’t recall how late we stayed up, I doubt it was past midnight though. I do vividly remember the anticipation before going to the sleep-over and grilling my mom with questions about sleep-overs while packing for the evening.
What is the worst grade you ever received in school? (on a test, quiz or grade card). Did you tell your parents?
The worst grade I’ve ever gotten on a test was in the first grade. We had weekly spelling tests and one week I decided not to study because I always did well. I was above studying, right? Wrong. I received a 20% on my test and after realizing I may not be as smart as I thought I was… the studying resumed. I don’t believe I told my parents.
If you could take anyone in the world to lunch in Bluffton, who would it be and where would you go? What you would talk about?
I would take Tina Fey to Jeanne’s Kitchen where we would talk about comedy writing, influential women in the world, the effects of media on society, our love of Amy Poehler, and our even greater love of food.
