Name: Ben Whitesell
Majors Advised: History, Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Jewish Studies, Medieval Studies, and Latin American Studies
Hometown: Bellefonte, PA
Educational Background: BA degree in Religious Studies from Penn State
I Started as an Undergraduate Assistant in the History Department seeing students for general academic issues and, after 5 years, moved into professional advising for the same programs.
Something most students don’t know about you: I do community theater, mostly in the Summer, and have performed at the Boal Barn Playhouse and State Theater. I also have a knack for cutting paper snow flakes and you can find them in many of the Liberal Arts offices on campus.
If you could do college over again: If I could do college over again I would have worked a little harder in my courses and looked for a good internship. Although I enjoyed my course work I was not thinking enough about what I was going to use my degree for. An internship would have given me some focus and let me make some connections for possible careers.
What you like most about your job: As an adviser, I enjoy meeting so many diverse students and watching them find their passions. It is great to see a student that I’ve worked with for years find a career that they are excited about or be accepted to a graduate or law school that they wanted. I meet them fresh out of high school and they leave with a future as part of the global community.