Hometown: Durham, NCGraduating Class: 2023
Current Profession:
What languages did you study at UNC and what were your most memorable moments from those global language courses?
As a Latin major, my main language was Latin, with some Ancient Greek and German. I have a million memorable moments in classrooms in Murphey hall having my mind blown and my heart touched by Latin verse my professors were sharing with me.
Did you study abroad or do an internship abroad and, if so, what about these experiences impacted your bachelor’s degree the most?
I studied abroad and interned in London. I was hired at the rare book dealer I worked at because of my language skills, decoding books in Latin there weren’t translations for, and using that foundation to work with texts in other romance languages. Studying abroad expanded my world phenomenally, and in London and my travels there I made some of my favorite memories. My experiences in rare books there shaped my senior honors thesis when I got back, and the connections I made and experiences I had there began to make my world truly global.
How did the study of Greek and/or Latin shape your overall academic training at Carolina?
Studying Greek and Latin was the foundation of everything I did at UNC. The deep language courses taught me to be a detail-oriented, evidence-based researcher, and made deep engagement with primary sources my focus. In my classes in Latin, we closely read and engaged with literature that seeped into my bones and colored the way I saw everything I did, learned and experienced at Carolina.
How has language study at Carolina shaped your outlook and professional aspirations following graduation?
I pursued Latin for my passion of it and in the face of many dubious responses, but it continues to propel my career in ways I could never have imagined. For instance, the foundation and approach it gave me to grammar and things like phonological awareness and syllabification has proved invaluable while working with Dyslexic students as a reading and writing coach, and I sometimes bring my Latin books in because they can help me teach concepts most succinctly. Latin proves a rare skill, and I’m constantly surprised by the opportunities it provides me and doors it opens. Currently, as I consider graduate school, I find that my Latin classes at UNC started me down rich research paths I can’t turn away from quite yet.
Is there anything else you’d like to add that you believe new students should know about your global language experience at Carolina?
My language courses at Carolina set me up for my other two richest experiences and opportunities there—study/work abroad, and undergraduate research. I can’t encourage those things enough, and I feel so lucky that I got access to all three while at UNC.