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Catching up with Sharon Schuchter Drees

Alumna Sharon Schuchter Drees, class of 2004, checks in with what she's up to. For those of you wondering who Sharon Drees is, well, she's now Sharon Schuchter and she currently lives in Latonia, Ky., with her husband of one year and their new puppy, Maddie.  

Sharon earned her Master of Arts in American history from the University of Cincinnati in June. Her minor was in public history. 

"As part of my MA graduate study, I completed a major research project on the history of local grassroots peace activism titled 'The Quiet Peacemakers of Wilmington College, 1940-1976'," Sharon said. "As a Quaker college, Wilmington has a long pacifist tradition in which resistance to war has manifested itself in different ways. This project focuses on the legacy of those who resisted World War II through the Vietnam War and includes resistance to nuclear weapons in the mid-1970s. This timeframe highlights the links of activism between a war that most citizens considered the most justified in American history and another war that a great many Americans rejected.  I am currently working on revising this paper with hopes of publication through Wilmington College."

Since leaving NKU, Sharon's other experiences include:

• An internship with the Center for the Electronic Reconstruction of Historical and Archaeological Sites, a nonprofit organization at UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning that creates interactive multimedia presentations. 

"One of my main tasks was to conduct research for an exhibit on northern Kentucky's ancient history featured in the newly renovated Behringer-Crawford Museum in Covington," Schuchter said. 

• An internship at CET, Cincinnati's local public television station, where she located diverse World War II veterans in the Cincinnati area to learn about their experiences and write suggested questions for interviews filmed for both television and the Internet. 

"The highlight of my CET internship was conducting an interview with Dr. Henry Heimlich," Schuchter said.  "Dr. Heimlich is most known in the United States for developing the famous Heimlich Maneuver, but he is also a World War II veteran whose experience influenced his later work and led to life saving devices used in military combat and civilian hospitals.  This interview was featured on the home page of CETconnect.org."

“The Honors Program at Northern Kentucky University gave me the amazing opportunity to explore documentary filmmaking on some of the most important issues facing the United States today," she said.  "It is impossible to stress what an important role this played in my professional development, my education and my life.  The Honors Program allowed me to pursue goals that I never dreamed I could accomplish and opened my eyes to extraordinary possibilities, giving me the confidence to continue dreaming big dreams and following through to make them happen.  The Honors Program gave me a much greater sense of purpose and a strong belief that I really can make a significant and lasting impact on the world around me.”