Student Reflections

I attended University College London in the spring of 2017. I was in the Greek and Latin department, but I also took classes in Archeology and Art History. Studying Classics in London gave me a unique opportunity to interact directly with the objects I was studying in class by visiting the many world class museums in and around London. Classes met in museums as well as in classrooms so we could fully take advantage of the city. London also has its own Roman past, which allowed me a glimpse of the ancient world through objects and structures around the city. 

Seneca's wisdom remains true to today. Having traveled both to Greece and Italy during my time at Wellesley College, I have been exposed to an incredible amount of change. I learned a breadth of history through the sight of the Roman Forum, the taste of Greek spanakopitas, and the smell of the sea breeze across a Greek island. Changing my physical setting changed my perspective and opened my senses up to places, people, and things that I had never imagined. I highly recommend to any students interested within the Classical world the opportunity to travel and expose themselves to a new place.

Beyond the academics, this program is an unbelievable opportunity to travel across Italy and discover Rome with other students. I was thrilled to be in a residential community of peers who challenged me. The continual classics jokes and sense of community among professors and students was incredible. Of course, I fell in love with Rome –– from the people, to the food, to the coffee, to the ancient sites, to the museums, to the views. After returning back to the states, I came back with new skills, new perspective, and, of course, a cactus from Sicily. My experience teaching English to speakers of other langagues in Rome was my first step in discerning that teaching is the right path for me

During the summer of 2015, I was lucky enough to travel to Greece to take a course focusing on gender in ancient Athens at College Year in Athens. I received the Tufts/McCann Award and I feel this summer abroad enhanced my understanding of my Classics-related courses. The CYA course was a dynamic look at Athens' past as I walked through the city's present. After visiting the many ancient sites and spending time with some of the art and infrastructure, I can better picture the temples and palaces and the polis as they are described in literature.

For the following academic year, I studied at the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. This year away was a look into life for students in a university experience totally different than Wellesley. Edinburgh is a large, public research university in an amazing city, and it was a wonderful place to live and study for a year. The university is very social, with loads of clubs and societies and it was a fantastic counterpoint to Wellesley!