CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Thank you to our contributing writers who volunteered their time and talents to produce this issue. If you are interested in writing for Guilford College Magazine, let us know by going to giving.guilford.edu/volunteer.

Sommer Fanney ’18

Sommer Fanney is a Guilford alum who graduated in 2018. While a student, she worked with many great professors in the English and Music departments, briefly wrote for The Guilfordian and competed as a track athlete. Her favorite part of journalistic writing is speaking with the individual behind every story, and she writes for Guilford’s publications because she loves to meet and share the stories of people connected to Guilford. Sommer currently lives in the Triangle, where she is serving FoodCorps AmeriCorps sites.

Brian Schuh ’02

Brian Schuh studied Economics and enjoyed writing for The Guilfordian under the mentorship of Jeff Jeske. After graduation he worked for a period as a writer and editor for professional associations in the Washington, DC, area. However, his career took several turns away from writing as he returned to school to study nursing and public health. He had desired to write again for a while, but wasn’t sure of a venue for doing so. The Alumni Volunteer Program with the magazine has been an excellent opportunity to practice these skills while giving back to Guilford. Whether it’s becoming acquainted with newer faculty members, researching the achievements of alumni or interviewing current students, Brian says he feels more connected to Guilford as an alum now than he ever has.

Emily Hedrick ’70

The "dubious" writing talents of Emily Hedrick ’70 first surfaced in a series entitled “The Adventures of Emiline the Elephant,” which incorporated the week’s spelling words in sixth grade. From those inauspicious beginnings in Lexington, N.C., Emily went on to major in English at Guilford. Happily, the ability to string two or more sentences together enabled her to earn a living first as a newspaper reporter, and then in public relations and nonprofit fundraising.

In 2008 the economic tsunami impacted many charitable donations, leaving Emily involuntarily retired. Fortunately, this status allowed her to pursue her lifelong passions unencumbered. She’s an avid reader. Until the pandemic buzz-kill, last summer would have marked her 20th trip to the U.K., where she had enrolled in a fourth course at Cambridge University. She’s a choral music junkie, having sung in a chamber choir in Charlotte for 25 years. Her love for Lowcountry culture and the performing arts inspired her move to Charleston, S.C., in 2015.

Emily’s world has few shades of gray. She’s a yellow dog Democrat and proud of it. She’s stubborn, opinionated and credits Guilford College with transforming her. Her glass is not only always half-full, it’s usually overflowing.