Story by: Amber Lynch

Montevallo, Ala. – Elijah Knight seems to be the average student at Montevallo from the outside looking in. Montevallo has brought him out of his shell in ways he didn’t know possible. For example, he’s now stepped into a manager role for an artist and become the president of an honor society.

Thanks to the help of his professors, Montevallo’s small class sizes, and the many campus organizations he is involved in, he has found his place at Montevallo.

The greatest thing that drew Elijah to Montevallo is the class size. He says “It might seem cliché, but at Montevallo, the maximum class size is 25 people and on average it is 10 to 15 people.

He says, “The ability to communicate with professors and advisors drew me to the decision.” Elijah looked at a few universities in the state of Alabama, but none had the class size and functionality he was looking for except Montevallo.

Since coming to campus, Elijah has gotten involved with several different campus groups and clubs, including Alpha Lambda Delta, Lambda Pi Eta, the Broadcast Education Association, and the Sustainability Committee.

Elijah says he’s thankful for his professors and especially his adviser, Dr. Sherry Ford, for introducing him to these organizations.

“The organizations on Montevallo’s campus helped me grow into a more confident student,” he says. Elijah admits that his GPA “was not where it could have been” when he graduated high school.

He credits his involvement in Alpha Lambda Delta honors society for helping turn things around during his first semester at UM. “Alpha Lambda Delta has really helped me jump to where I could be,” he says.

The organizations on Montevallo’s campus helped me grow into a more confident student.

Elijah Knight

Now, Elijah is the president of Lambda Pi Eta, the national communication honor society. He says this role helped him “grow into a strong communicator, building relationships and getting those connections that help when you go to find a job after graduation.”

Elijah is also using his leadership and communication skills in other ways. When the Sustainability Committee was in need of a communication representative, Elijah stepped up.

Since he is in an Environmental Communication class, he had a particular interest in the position. “I have an interest in environmental care,” he says. His efforts play an important role in the committee’s success, “I facilitate conversation for needs and it is something good to help with flow of communication.”

When Elijah is not in the classroom, he seems to be the average college student. “I like to work out, watch football, go golfing and fishing.” However, one of his hobbies is not so ordinary.

“I do some mixing and mastering of music,” he says. This has been something he has enjoyed doing for quite some time.

This hobby turned into a managing role for an artist. “My main responsibility is to record the tracks, mix and master them. After that, the artist oversees the advertising aspect of it.”

He has known the artist and has been friends with him for some time now, since they were kids. “It started with me taking an interest in music,” he says. From there it caught his friend’s interest and then became something they could do together.

Use all possible resources at your university.

Elijah Knight

Thanks to his experiences at Montevallo, Elijah has grown out of his shell and taken charge of his future. Elijah left us with this piece of advice for any student entering college: “Use all possible resources at your university.”

Some of these resources include tutoring, professors, advisers, and upperclassmen. “Go to others for advice,” he adds. The resources at Montevallo have helped Elijah grow into the confident communicator he is today.