Paving a Personalized Path
Student Snapshot: Nicole Bustard ’24
It’s not easy to graduate a year early with two majors, but Nichole Bustard '24 is accomplishing that—while working on campus and earning honors and awards. She also found time to learn about ancient civilizations in Italy and Greece and to complete an internship. After graduation, she’ll volunteer for a year with AmeriCorps, then enter law school. Below, she discusses her nontraditional path at Dickinson, beginning with an introductory language class that opened up a whole new world of interest.
Hometown:
Sparrows Point, Md.
Majors:
Classical studies and history.
Clubs and organizations:
Eta Sigma Phi Honor Society (secretary) and the History Majors Committee.
Honors/scholarships/awards:
Alpha Lambda Delta, Eta Sigma Phi, Phi Alpha Theta, Phi Beta Kappa, Dean’s List, Provost’s Scholarship, John David Wright III Memorial Prize and Raven’s Claw Scholarship.
Best thing about my Dickinson experience:
The opportunity to travel to Greece and Italy during my second year at Dickinson, through department-sponsored trips to archaeological sites, museums, and other notable locations in the classical world. I traveled to Greece in the winter, then to Sicily in the spring. In both places, it was a surreal experience to finally see places that I had read about in textbooks and primary sources. These trips expanded my knowledge of the classical world and allowed me to experience modern Greek and Italian culture with fellow classical studies students, giving me the chance to bond with people who share my interests.
Best thing about my major:
Classical studies: The interdisciplinary approach. The major requires students to take courses in classical language, history, literature and culture. It’s enabled me to learn about the ancient world through many different approaches – linguistics, literature, theatre, religion, archaeology and history. This provided me with an expanded worldview and a breadth of new scholarly skills.
History: Flexibility is the best part of the history major. It allows students to pick either a regional or thematic concentration. I choose to focus on a thematic concentration of religion, society and culture. As a result, I have been able to take an incredible range of history courses—some including the religious history of Abrahamic religions, the history of migrations between Latin America and the United States and the history of the First World War. This flexibility has expanded my knowledge of a variety of places, periods and subjects and has allowed me to focus on skills that every historian, regardless of subject matter or focus, needs: critical analysis, persuasive or argumentative writing and strong verbal communication.
On choosing Dickinson:
I remember having around 25-five schools in mind when I began researching for colleges. My number-one priority was a good pre-law program that could best prepare me for my dream of becoming a lawyer. Because I had some family and family friends who attended Dickinson, the college was at the top of my list. I found not only a strong prelaw program, but also a strong emphasis on community, sustainability and innovation. I felt comforted by the concept of a smaller, tight-knit campus community, as well as Dickinson’s insistence on exploring, enjoying and excelling in different disciplines. Ultimately, Dickinson checked off all the boxes on my list—and I knew that out of those 25 colleges, it was the only one for me.
Most important thing I’ve learned so far:
To not be afraid to do what I enjoy—even if it falls outside what is considered traditional. When I first started at Dickinson, I had a lot of expectations about what I should study, what organizations I should join and what I should do to prepare myself for law school. I quickly learned, however, not to worry too much about following an “orthodox” pathway. Knowing the benefits of a liberal arts college, I know that whatever I study will prepare me for any future I choose to pursue. I now know that I should study the things that I enjoy – ancient history, literature, and culture – rather than worry about what a typical prelaw student studies.
About my internship:
Over my winter break, I worked as an intern with Dickinson College Commentaries (DCC), a website with digitized Greek and Latin texts as educational resources. I worked with another Dickinson student, Dickinson faculty and faculty from Montclair State University to digitize text, notes, and vocabulary lists for Catullus, a first-century B.C. Latin poet. As a group, we created new webpages, inserted and formatted text and edited the pages. The internship ultimately built upon the work from a summer 2023 student Catullus Reading Group for Dickinson and Montclair students.
Proudest accomplishment so far:
Making it to the final semester of my senior year. I am proud that, as a first-generation college student who faced personal, financial and other barriers while attending Dickinson, I have done well enough to graduate a year early—while still doing well in my classes, working on campus and participating in campus life. I feel accomplished for making it so far – and for having the chance to do so many things at Dickinson.
Post-Dickinson plans:
I have always wanted to practice public-interest law, with the goal of elevating those voices that are not normally heard. Since coming to Dickinson, the experiences I’ve had both inside and outside the classroom have reinforced my goal. These experiences have also opened my perspective about the world around me and showed me how much more there is to explore.
Because of these experiences, I am choosing to take a gap year after graduation to work as a team leader in AmeriCorps’ NCCC Program. After completing my service year, I intend to attend law school and start my career.
Advice for younger students:
I have one piece of advice to share: Take classes that interest you and explore new things. I started at Dickinson expecting to be a history major, with a possible political science minor. My freshman year, I signed up for First-Year Latin, expecting it to fulfill my language requirement and later, to help me with learning complicated legal terms. By the end of the semester, I had fallen in love with the language. Latin led me to take more classical studies courses and, eventually, to declare classical studies as my major. From one class alone, I discovered a new passion—as well as the relationships, opportunities and lessons that have come along with it. So, if you’re thinking about taking a class, just because it seems fun or interesting, do it—it might change your whole college experience.
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Published April 9, 2024