WKU History Department - Student Profiles

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Ethan Berg

Winner of the A.M. Stickles Memorial Scholarship

Ethan is originally from Buffalo, New York where he lived for 14 years until his family moved to Crestwood, Ky in 2014. Since elementary school, Ethan has been an aspiring writer. He committed to writing a novel during his freshman year of high school and finished a rough draft by his senior year. Ethan has been occasionally editing it in the years since but has prioritized his academic writing, especially a thesis project for the WKU Honors College. Ethan is also a lifelong violinist and has played with the Louisville Youth Orchestra. In the summer of 2016, he had the privilege of being the concertmaster for the string ensemble and participated in the American Music Abroad Freedom Tour. Ethan traveled and performed American music in Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria, Croatia, and Italy. At WKU, he has been a first violinist in the University’s Symphony Orchestra. His other personal hobbies include collecting vintage toy cars and coins.

Ethan feels throughout his education he has been gifted with outgoing history teachers who fostered his appreciation for the complexity of humanity’s past. Ethan is also majoring in political science due to his equal interest in understanding politics. He believes understanding our country’s past is indispensable for shaping its future. Ethan’s favorite quote is from President Kennedy’s 1963 Commencement Address at American University: “For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”

Ethan’s favorite aspect of being a history major is presenting academic research and enhancing his writing skills. As a writer, he has a passion for telling stories and History classes allow him to tell the real life stories of people who shaped our world into what it is today. He is planning to graduate in May 2021 and then going on to law school.

Congratulations Ethan!