Overall Reflection
It took me a long time to officially declare my major. I waited until later in my sophomore year, until I finally registered as a Classics major. I was torn between Classics and Art History, and I still wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to do when I graduated. Deciding what I would major in felt like a huge step and I wasn’t sure which direction I wanted it to be in. However, I had already taken many classics classes, so I knew I wanted it to be an integral part of my education. And the community I found within the Classics department made me feel welcomed and encouraged me to follow the passions which originally brought me to it. Overall, it was the passion I had for the subject of Classics that made me declare my major, and though I’ve doubted myself at times, I have never regretted it.
Studying classics has given me the opportunity to explore different possible future career paths. By taking different classes and being involved in the classics department I’ve been provided with the resources to build up skills for a variety of different future careers involving the subject I love. From academic research, archeological research, teaching, curation, to writing, I’ve been able to explore and learn more about many ways I can apply my education in the future. Because of this experience, now I know I have the option of pursuing any of these career paths, whereas before I became a part of the Classics department, I had no idea of the number of opportunities a Classics degree could provide me. The items featured in my portfolio represent the fundamental skills that the work I’ve completed for my degree in Classics has prepared me for the future.
I approached this portfolio assignment with the intention of looking back on my projects and seeing how I’ve improved or even what I may have forgotten over time. I was able to look at my previous work with a fresh set of eyes and identify parts of the project that I would have changed if I wrote the project now. As well as gain a newfound appreciation for all of the work I’ve done over my time at Skidmore. Through this exercise, I was able to see how I’ve grown as a student and writer. Even items I was unsatisfied with at the time of creating them showcase my unique voice as a writer and showcase what I have learnt to since then, and as they exist can still encourage me to do better in the future. Additionally, looking back on these same items has also taught me to be less harsh on myself and appreciate the different sides of works that I originally did not appreciate since I was too wrapped up in the parts I was not satisfied with.
I’ve arranged my items chronologically in order to make the navigation of my portfolio easier to the viewer, as well as place it within the context of my educational journey at Skidmore. By ordering the featured items chronologically I was able to categorize the coursework I chose to feature in the context of the courses they were taken in. Putting these items in context showcases my ability to achieve set goals in an accurate and effective way, as well as demonstrates the ability to craft a meaningful argument to the wide range of different academic challenges presented to me at Skidmore and beyond.
My Skidmore Classics career is exemplified through the items I’ve selected by providing a chronology of my improvement and development as a writer over the course of my studies at Skidmore. Each example uses a wide variety of different forms of sources, showcasing the different forms of research I was taught to understand during my career at Skidmore. The Classics department has given me a varied and diverse education in research, providing me with the resources to approach my projects from multiple different angles after having worked with the variety of sources and approaches presented in my selection of projects. It is this multidisciplinary approach which drew me towards Classics and has helped me become a well-rounded and thoughtful student and writer. All my career at Skidmore, I have wanted to become the best writer I can possibly be. Being a Classics student has helped me know the words for what that means to me and the resources to continue striving towards that goal.
Completing a Classics education is a highly contested topic, almost every Classics student has a story about a relative, friend, or even stranger asking them some variation of the question, “Why Classics? What’s the point?” I think the point is different for everyone, but the fact we are able to find the point through our studies is an experience I hope many students after me can experience. I think the pursuit of Classics has a place in modern education now more than ever, and it certainly has helped me greatly in my academic journey. As I’ve previously mentioned, I’ve found that the education my pursuit of Classical Studies has provided me with has provided me with a wide skill set of research and writing skills that I believe will help me no matter what career I decide to pursue in the future. Most importantly, all the work I’ve done has helped me to strengthen the skill of drawing my own conclusions based off the research I’ve conducted. This has made me a person who can trust my own conclusions as well as respect and listen to the conclusions of other. Additionally, because I can make my own conclusions, I have the skills to advocate and argue against an argument that I disagree with in a respectful and well-cited way. For me, the point of studying Classics, beyond the economic resources it has provided me with, is that it’s something I and the many people also studying Classics love. I think that enough means that it is a worthwhile pursuit for anyone to undertake.
A selection of books on Ovid available at the Scribner Library of Skidmore College. I have read many of these books ever since I started my thesis research on flight in the Metamorphoses.