After Vassar - Student Comments
I remember that when I first got to Vassar, I lamented the fact that there was no "Archaeology" department. I had decided to attend Vassar despite this fact, because it felt better to me, it called to me. I also remember some preliminary meetings with Bert and some deans about the idea of creating one of those Interdisciplinary majors, the ones you can build yourself. Bert thankfully talked me out of it, explaining I could do a Latin major and still have time for all the art and anthropology courses I would want, all the while nestled in the structure of an established major. I'm glad he convinced me, because the great support of the classics department really gave me a strong foundation to build from after graduation.
I think the experience that sealed my fate as an archaeologist and art historian was the semester at the Centro in Rome. I had never even heard about this program until I saw the poster up in the department. I also almost missed the application deadline, but thanks to Dr. Brown it got submitted and I was accepted! The whole experience there just boggled my mind, in a good way! It made me love classical antiquity even more than I did already, which, before I got there, I didn't think was possible.
I'm sure my time at the Centro combined with my Vassar background helped me get the 9-month internship I held in the Greek and Roman department at the Metropolitan Museum, and that, in turn, has opened so many doors.
I really believe I would not be where I am right now if I hadn't been a Latin major at Vassar. That one intro Latin course I took sophomore year turned out to be a catalyst for the course of my life, and I'm grateful for it.
~ Rose Trentinella, '01
Studying Classics at Vassar prepared me to complete myriad challenging crossword puzzles, crush virtually all Scrabble foes, and decorate myself with unique tattoos. As a high school English teacher, I frequently impress my students with Greek and Latin etymologies and historical anecdotes. I "pull the origins of words seemingly out of nowhere," according to one of last year's young scholars. Of course, it doesn't hurt a language arts educator to understand early instances of western "literature" and "civilization" either. So now, when I think back on my intimate classics seminars and the close relationships I shared with the department's stellar professors and peers, I'm caught up in nostalgia - a word of Greek origin which, at the advanced age of 25, I find increasingly useful. To put it plainly, I never knew then that my education would impress so many people, have constant professional and personal relevance, or that I would look back on those years so warmly. Chairete.
~ Evan Hansen, '01
Sample career paths of recent graduates:
- Gary Stern, '83, environmental lawyer
- Cathy Favreau,'85 , high-school Latin teacher
- Jessica Berman, ' 88, rheumatologist
- Heather Ann Thompson, '92, college administration
- Celina Gray, '93, archaeologist
- Kristin Romey, '95, underwater archaeologist
- Jason Friedman, '99, graduate school in linguistics
- Margaret Foster, '99.graduate school in classics
- Nathan Goldstein, '01, law school
- Blythe Chandler, '02, advocacy for battered women
- Richard Buxton, '03, American School of Classical Studies in Athens