By Elise Goitia '18

Kayleigh O'Brien '16 recently embarked on a study abroad trip to Italy, and it influenced her Classical studies and other academic interests dynamically.

After making it into a competitive program offered by the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies of Duke University, O'Brien, from Champaign, Illinois, traveled to Italy to study Roman culture, Latin, and Ancient Greek in one of the most influential Classical capitals in the world: Rome.

Her inspiration to shoot for this particular program, she said, was for the experience of a lifetime.

"The ICCS program is known throughout the Classics network as the program you need to go on. I can say that I worked in an archeological study collection at the American Academy in Rome, which has the best Classics library in the world. Not only was the library beautiful, but it had every book you could ever want. It was an amazing experience. And there's nothing like walking the streets of Rome at night with friends and having nowhere else to be."

O'Brien made the connection between her studies at Rome through her previous studies at Knox. "Everything that I knew there, I learned here," she said. "I love antiquity, classical culture, and the ways they used images and rhetoric is fascinating. But, also, I love popular culture, so why should I not do both? The program was the most academically challenging experience I've ever done in my life, but coming back, I felt more well-rounded in everything that I did."

"Before I left Knox to go to Rome, I thought the only way I could do Classics forever is if I got a Ph.D. and became a professor," added O'Brien. "The professors in Rome instilled the mindset of being adamant about your passion. It gave me drive to keep doing what I wanted to do and not let anyone tell me, "No.'"

"They showed me there are a lot of ways I could go. My dream jobs would be either working at a classical museum in the PR department or for the history channel, researching their posts and campaigns."

One of the people that inspired her to go on this trip was Jason Nethercutt, visiting assistant professor of Classics, who is also passionate about how ancient cultures intersect with modern cultures. "I remember a class he offered where he gave a lecture about Odysseus and how it connected to Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling was actually a Classicist," she said.

"Consider the werewolf Harry Potter character Remus Lupin. ‘Lupin' means wolf, and Remus was the brother of the founder of Rome and they were both raised by wolves. That's the kind of thing that really inspires me."