Sophie Nicholson is one of a kind. 

Nicholson is a senior English literature and professional writing double major with philosophy and publishing and editing minors.

Along with her studies, Nicholson has been the Collage editor-in-chief for two years, a writer and copy editor for the Decaturian, a writer for BURST magazine, a tutor at the Writing Center, a member of Alpha Chi Omega, and a member of the improv group, Math Club. She has also been an intern for Dr. Bates and has assisted in editing the Decatur Magazine. 

Dr. Anne Matthews has been Nicholson’s academic advisor for four years. Although Matthews hasn’t had the chance to get to know Nicholson personally, she has been able to get to know Nicholson through her classes.

“Knowing the kinds of things Sophie writes and the way she thinks, I’ve gotten to know her pretty well about what her concerns are, who she is, and how committed she is to intellectual curiosity and the life of the mind,” Matthews said.

Nicholson was always attentive and shared her insight when in class. Matthews has had Nicholson in many of her classes, and she always enjoyed her input.

“She would raise questions in class, and I’m like, I don’t know if I have the answer to that, which is the best kind of question,” Matthews said. “So, then we’d have to try to figure it out together.”

During her sophomore year, Nicholson was diagnosed with a chronic illness, and this diagnosis has been a large part of her experience at Millikin.

“As I was adjusting to actually being an in-person student, I started having all of this problem with fatigue and faintness,” Nicholson said. “It was challenging to work through all of that.”

Even with all of these challenges, Nicholson was able to prevail. Nicholson’s roommate, senior Collette Phillips, admires Nicholson’s perseverance when she is faced with tough challenges. 

“Despite how much she is struggling, she always finds a way to get what she needs, done, done, and still have her voice be heard,” Phillips said.

It is nearly impossible to speak about Nicholson’s time without bringing up her work as editor-in-chief of Collage, Millikin’s literary and fine arts magazine. At the end of her freshman year, Nicholson was identified as the next candidate to take over Collage. 

“When I took over Collage, I was not prepared for what that meant,” Nicholson said. “I didn’t really have it fully explained to me that I would be doing all of the online design elements.”

During her time as editor-in-chief, she was understandably stressed. Nicholson was tasked with creating the new issues of Collage with minimal help from others. 

“My time with Collage was mostly stressful, but I still appreciated that I was able to be a part of something like that, where, you know, creative work that other students have poured their heart and soul into was published so they could have that feeling of being published and having it in front of them,” Nicholson said.

Nicholson’s talents do not just extend to academics, she is also an active member of Math Club, the campus improv group. Math Club has been an outlet for Nicholson, it is a much-needed break from the rigorous coursework and a way to make new friends. 

“[Math Club] has been its own little community for me,” Nicholson said.

Nicholson has developed helpful skills through her time in Math Club and encourages other students to venture out of their major and join a student organization. 

“[Math Club] helped me to develop skills [like] learning and speaking on the fly, and because it’s improv you really have to figure it out as you’re going you, don’t have a script, and life doesn’t have a script,” Nicholson said. “So, I think that has made a big difference in the way I conduct myself and has been a great learning opportunity alongside my English degree.”

After college, Nicholson plans to go to her home in Evansville for a few months and apply for jobs in Chicago. 

“I hope to move [to Chicago] after the summer, find work, maybe do some improv for fun,” Nicholson said.

Nicholson has achieved so much in her time at Millikin. Although she will be graduating on May 19th, the English Department will not forget her and all of her hard work.