Katie White: The Next Great American Novelist

Every so often a great writer comes along, changing the world and literature. Every generation has had one, and this generation’s just might be a student from Frostburg State University: Katie White, a senior at FSU.

Katie, originally from Snow Hill, Maryland, moved to Frostburg in 2007 to gain knowledge that would help her to pursue her dream of becoming a novelist. For her, attending FSU was a way to leave the Eastern Shore and be different from all her fellow high school graduates. She says, “I didn’t want to be like everyone else who went to UMES or Wor-Wic.” (UMES is University of Maryland-Eastern Shore; Wor-Wic is a community college located on the eastern shore.)

Katie initially began college as a music education major; she quickly realized, however, that this major was not relevant to what she truly wanted to do with her life. From there, she went into Music Management, but this major wasn’t for her either. To her, the classes were boring and could not hold her interest. She remembers, “I knew this was the sign that I shouldn’t be there.” She then decided to try a Liberal Studies major, which has proved to be the one for her. Along with this major, she would like to earn a Professional Writing certificate.

Along with her major, she has chosen minors and skills that will help her as a novelist. She is currently working on a minor in music. She would also like to add another minor in film studies .Katie feels both of these will provided her with solid background knowledge if ever a novel of hers was published and turned into film. At the same time, she would also like to learn the skills that will allow her to edit herself, and not rely on a paid editor. But that’s not all! Katie also plans to dual enroll at Frostburg State and Alleghany College for medical coding and culinary arts.

Katie fills her time outside of the classroom with two of her major passions: writing and music. Overall, she has written eight novels so far. However, none of these have ever been published. Katie credits this to a fear of rejection. At one time, she wrote for The Bottom Line. This lasted only one semester, though. Katie says, “I got out because I didn’t agree with the politics of the paper. I wanted to write more in-depth stories about the music department, and they wanted me to write CD reviews.” When she is not writing, she can probably be found with her sisters of Sigma Alpha Iota, an international music fraternity for women. (For more information on Frostburg’s local chapter visit http://organizations.frostburg.edu/sigmaalphaiota/).

Lucky for this generation, Katie has filled her time at Frostburg State University with experiences that will help her to one day reach her dream. With talent and determination like hers, the world may one day see Katie White’s name on the top of the New York Times Bestseller list.