Cameron Addie, an Aiken native turned Greenville resident, did not choose his path to Lander based on a particular course of study or athletics team, but because his girlfriend was going to Lander.
“I’m glad that I followed her here, because I couldn’t imagine going anywhere else,” he said. “Lander has been very good to me, and that girlfriend who I followed here is my wife now.”
He began his time at Lander studying history with a secondary certificate, but eventually realized that he did not want to teach in a classroom. He later picked up a public history emphasis when the program launched, and ended up with an internship at the Battle of Musgrove Mill State Historic Site in Clinton.
Dr. Robert Figuera, professor of history, said that he found it “especially noteworthy” that Addie tailored his major coursework and internship in a manner to enhance his future career. “And in the process, he incidentally made Lander’s history program and the University look very good,” he added. “It’s not often that internship site supervisors offer such superlative praise for an intern. I concur that appraisal.”
“I highly encourage everyone to do an internship,” said Addie. “Luckily my hard work paid off because that internship turned into a part-time position as an assistant ranger.” Addie said that he values the experiences granted to him by the Musgrove Mill Historic Site and the connections he was able to make through them, “which will help me now that I am applying for full-time employment.”
He hopes to take his experiences and education and extend his time as a park ranger since he graduated in December, “but there are so many paths I can go down with my degree,” he said. “One day, far down the road, maybe I will be a park manager or historic site manager.”