Classical Studies Major Jobs and Graduate School Acceptances 2021
classical studies
Peter Cook
Major: classical studies, archaeology
Hometown: Haverhill, Massachusetts
Employer: United States Army National Guard
Job title: specialist
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
Dickinson has taught me how to make meaningful connections with other people and how to make use of those upon graduating. I've been provided a variety of opportunities to interact with people from other cultures with vastly different mindsets. This has taught me the value of working with people from different backgrounds and how to approach problems from a new angle and with an open mind. The rigorous course load had also taught me the value of time management and the importance of turning away from activities or hobbies that interfere with that time management.
What are you most anticipating about your career or post-graduate pursuits?
I would say that my plan to eventually attend graduate school is something I'm most anticipating. Not knowing where I want to go with my career has obviously provided a roadblock, but I know that the military will help me lay out my future plans and go forward from there.
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
I've had several defining moments during my time at Dickinson. The first would have been my acceptance as a residential advisor. I have made so many important memories and have had so many incredible interactions with my residents over the years. I've been lucky with my staff members, and I've been fortunate to have learned as much as I have during my time. Another defining experience was when I joined the fraternity Delta Sigma Phi. The men that I've met and interacted with have helped change my stigma towards what being in a fraternity means and how that has helped me get to the point that I'm at now. I will always be thankful for the time I have spent with all of those men.
Henry Olree
Majors: classical studies, religion
Hometown: Montgomery, Alabama
Employer: Americorps VISTA
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
Excellent training in critical thinking skills, great connections with professors, learned about all sorts of personalities and cultures, cultivated work ethic and resilience.
Luke Nicosia
Majors: archaeology, mathematics, classical studies
Hometown: Rochester, New York
Graduate School: Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Field of study: applied archaeology
Employer: Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Job title: historic collections graduate assistant
Job Responsibilities
Assisting Indiana University of Pennsylvania's (IUP) Anthropology Department on various projects related to their historic artifact collections.
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
I think that Dickinson has prepared me in enabling me to improve myself as a person and professional from when I came in as a first-year. I have been able to have so many positive experiences and learning moments, specifically with figuring out the two big questions we tend to all face: who am I and what am I going to do with my life? I feel that I've grown as a person as a result of the environment at Dickinson, and with few exceptions, I've been very fortunate to have had advisors to learn from and assist me on my way, especially when it came to figuring out what I wanted to do. I think I've also gotten a lot better about speaking to people. It may read like a confessional, but I've had a lot of difficulty speaking to new people, and the more I have progressed in my undergraduate career, the more I feel embarrassed about my high school self. But I feel my embarrassment in that regard is but a symptom of my personal growth, one I attribute to being here.
What are you most anticipating about your career or post-graduate pursuits?
Well, graduate school is probably at the top of my list. I'm working under an absolutely outstanding professor (Dr. Ben Ford)—whose professional career story, at least it would seem, is a lot similar to my own—at an incredible department at IUP, where I have ample opportunity to work and gain hands-on career experience purely as a result of my time and opportunities at Dickinson. This summer, I'm also going to be journeying around the Northeast for field school opportunities, something I've missed out on but definitely need to do. I'm going to be working under Dr. Ford immediately after graduation at a site in Pa. for about a month (which also involves renting my own house for the first time), and then going to another site in N.Y. for the remainder of the summer.
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
I've listed a lot of them here already, the ones that are perhaps easiest and happiest for me to explain. I sometimes feel that the years have all gone by so fast, and that all the memories I have of such moments are hard to recall. I think for freshman year, my highlights were walking Hadrian's Wall in England on a trip sponsored by the Classics Department here at Dickinson, where I got to know one of my best friends; meeting professors I am very happy to have known, such as Adjunct Professor in Archeology Nikki Cummings, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology Maria Bruno, and The Asbury J. Clarke Professor of Classical Studies Christopher Francese; spending the first year trying a bunch of things, where I either liked them or hated them entirely; and hitting my first three pointer on a basketball court. Sophomore year, my highlights would include meeting Associate Professor of Classical Studies Jessica Romney and having an outstanding time in the three classes she taught while here; and having it be the first year where I felt I had solid friendships with people. Junior year, my internship was easily the most important part, as it led me to not only realize what I wanted to do, it gave me the notion of what I did not want to do, and was really the year where it all came together; being president of the Archaeology Club was also a big highlight of that year. And for this year, setting up the next 1-2 years of my life was perhaps the highlight for me.
Internship Experience
I worked for two internships during my time at Dickinson. The first was at the Cumberland County Historical Society in the archives under Blair Williams, on digitizing and transcribing some archival collections. I do not see myself necessarily going into archival work, but having the opportunity to read and learn about archival storage, as well as to have a long-term project that will constitute my making an impact on Carlisle in some small way, were surely benefits to my professional developments. My second internship, however, was incredibly defining for my career. I worked as a data entry intern for Pennsylvania's SHPO office, which is essentially the state-level office for archaeology. I worked under Hannah Harvey and Andrea Carr entering data for newly discovered archaeology sites in Pennsylvania, I got hands-on knowledge about artifact identification and description and learned a lot about archaeology in Pennsylvania, something I will be using for years to come. Yet, what I got out of this internship far exceeds the year I spent working there, and I am still in contact with both of these outstanding individuals to this day. Mrs. Harvey was an alumna of the applied archaeology program at IUP, and it was through her I found out about it and fell in love with it, and I really do owe it to the internship I had there that it was the only reason I managed to secure a GA and acquire substantial funding! But, perhaps most importantly, having this internship encouraged me to do things I had never done before. I wrote my first resume, had my first interview, wrote my first cover letter, commuted to work into an urban environment, parallel parked like an expert on a narrow side street, and experienced a workplace environment for the first time, and having that bedrock is so essential as I take the next step.
Stephanie Klein
Majors: classical studies, Italian studies
Hometown: Stony Point, New York
Graduate School: Royal Holloway
Field of study: classics
Carl Hamilton
Major: classical studies
Hometown: Lansdale, Pennsylvania
Graduate School: University of Virginia
Field of study: classics
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
Made me a better writer and thinker.
What are you most anticipating about your career or post-graduate pursuits?
Advancing deeper into my study of classical literature and culture.
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
Playing in music groups, having a radio show, studying abroad taking Greek.
Internship Experience
Dickinson classics department, organizing and editing online classics resources for the DCC website.
Rebecca Maslanka
Majors: classical studies, biochemistry & molecular biology
Hometown: Princeton, New Jersey
Graduate School: University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine
Field of study: veterinary medicine
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
Dickinson gave me the opportunity to double major in two entirely different disciplines, which has expanded my abilities of critical thinking and time management.
What are you most anticipating about your career or post-graduate pursuits?
I am excited to find my passion and niche within veterinary medicine, and my goal is to become an orthopedic surgeon.
Internship Experience
I interned in the summer of 2019 at the PennVet Working Dog Center as a part of the Dickinson Internship Notation Program. I worked training urban search and rescue dogs and police K9s. My daily duties included completing each of my five dogs' fitness programs, running them through obedience work, searches on rubble piles, agility and other training opportunities.
TAKE THE NEXT STEPS
Published April 30, 2021