Emma Agudelo ’24
Meet the Majors
Describe your major for someone who has never heard of your field before.
I have had the pleasure of conversing with a handful of bawdy ghosts, who not only speak in another language, but have such dreadful handwriting that I have leaned on many intermediaries to translate. On occasion, my interpreter has been an unlucky Victorian gentleman who blushes and coughs over every line, but both he and the ghosts are rather sweet and always entertaining.
What is something that people often misunderstand about your major?
Classics is not stuck in the past! Yes, we spend a lot of time studying old texts and admiring amputated statues and fallen masonry, but the opportunities to explore fresh topics with a modern perspective are endless.
Did you ever have trouble deciding on a major? What, ultimately, helped you decide?
I entered college intending to study biology and not much else besides. But on a whim, I signed up for a classics course my first semester and thereafter I simply couldn’t imagine not studying classics alongside science. So, to anyone agonizing over their major, I say enjoy your emancipation from high school by dabbling in whatever catches your fancy. You truly don’t know what you might discover.
Classics is not stuck in the past! The opportunities to explore fresh topics with a modern perspective are endless.
If you could throw any kind of party, what would it be like and what would it be for?
I would throw a classics-themed masquerade ball but ban historical and mythological figures as costumes. There must be no gladiators and goddesses, only relics of the ancient world, like elegant wine jugs, stately temple columns, and peacocks, live or roasted.
What do you think has been the most “Smithie” thing you’ve done in life so far? Through the support of my classics professors and the Office for International Study, I have incorporated travel into my education. Last summer, I spent five weeks exploring the major archaeological sites of the Peloponnese with College Year in Athens, and this summer, I will be staying even longer to study at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. To me, these summers are characteristically “Smithie”. Students here relish the challenge of learning outside the classroom, finding internships and study programs that expose them to new people and perspectives. You never know where a Smithie has been or where they are heading.
