2016 HNHS Grad has found inspiration in family and friends.
Ellie with the House of Parliament and Big Ben (under construction) in London in the background.
Ellie Lawson is the daughter of Russ and Heidi Lawson. Born and raised in Huntington, Ellie graduated from Huntington North in 2016.
Memory form High School
The girls basketball team’s trip to Knightstown, Indiana and the Hoosier Gym the summer before my senior year. We won the tournament too!
I also remember our senior night and I hadn’t seen North Arena that packed for a girls game in my four years – made me realize the impact the 2016 class had on the basketball community and the future of girls basketball.
What have you been doing after High School
I graduated from Huntington University 2020 and University of Oxford (England) 2019. I am a history major with minors in Refugee Studies, Museum Studies and Communication Studies.
My basketball career at HU ended when a stress fracture developed in my left tibia bone.
I went on to study abroad for 4 months at the #1 university in the world focusing on Modern European history and the Transatlantic slave trade at Oxford.
I have helped manage the HU Men’s Soccer team’s social media platforms and been a part of two national tournament teams (with my dad being the coach too!).
Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis as a Social History Intern, Teaching Assistant under Dr. Waterson at Huntington University and at the Nancy and David Wolf Holocaust and Humanity Center, Cincinnati as a Marketing Intern, as well as with Board and Brush Roanoke & North Fort Wayne as a Studio Instructor
What is in your future
I will be attending IUPUI to complete a Master’s in Public History. I am most interested in Holocaust and Genocide history and hope to work with a museum or organization dedicated to the public education of such atrocities.
Hobbies/Interest
Museums (art, history, science), travelling, comic books, and one of the more recent hobbies I love is being an aunt to my 10-month-old nephew!
Influences/inspiration in your life
My mom Heidi: Not only was she my coach for 2 years in HS (so she got to yell at me plenty haha) but she has always been either holding my hand through tough times, supporting me if I decided to challenge my boundaries or leading me through uncertainty. That has defined her as person for as long as I can remember…always making sure she was challenging, supporting and leading people to be the best versions of themselves.
Hannah Stoffel: I mean who isn’t inspired by Hannah Stoffel! I remember in HS before a big game I walked by the weight room and she was running a full 5k on the treadmill and still was able to put up crazy numbers..I thought she
Hannah Stoffel
was crazy for that! Now she is a national champion! She will always inspire me to never be too comfortable with where I’m at because there is always room for progress!