when she was just 16 years old, she enrolled at the university of nebraska at lincoln where she blossomed academically. she originally studied literature and writing as she aspired to be a writer. however, her series of short stories were never published due to her being female. she was the literary editor of the "daily nebraskan", associate editor of "the sombrero," and assistant editor of "the senior book". during her time at the university of nebraska, she met and became engaged to harry hollingworth and the two would wed on december 31, 1908. harry hollingworth moved to new york to do graduate work at columbia university and completed his doctorate under james cattell. stetter stayed behind in nebraska to finish her undergraduate studies. she graduated with "phi beta kappa" honors in 1906 and received her bachelor of arts degree, along with a state teacher's certificate. this qualified her to teach english language and literature in any nebraska public high school.