Of Greeks and fate
Look out! It's another post! Two in a row! Unheard of! But my viewing of The Trojan Women reminded me that I once studied the play in college and that reminded me that this brief sojourn into the Classics Department changed my life. It wasn't that particular class (Greek Drama) that did it, but rather, its prerequisite.
Classical Mythology with Mary Lefkowitz was the one class I entered Wellesley knowing I wanted to take. As soon as I could sign up for it, I did, and happy was I when I got a place therein my first semester. I remember feeling oh-so-clever for having paired it with astronomy. It was perfect, I figured--I'd learn the stories in one class and the accompanying constellations in the other. For kicks, I decided to go with Astronomy 110 instead of 101 because hey, I liked math and why not take the one with more math, but it was never going to be more than that. Imagine my surprise when I realized I liked the science too. I didn't plan to major in astronomy, or any science really. I assumed my major would be something to do with my high school strengths--writing, math, Spanish perhaps. Maybe psychology because I'd never studied it before and it seemed like the sort of thing one would "discover" in college. Astronomy was just a lark, conveniently scheduled to provide some additional inspiration for the class I was most excited to take.
As it turned out, I majored in astronomy and it shaped the first decade or so of my career. The second major (theatre, added when I decided not to go to grad school and dropped the original second major, physics, like a hot potato) helped too, as directing shows turned out to be surprisingly good training for project management, but STEM education is where I seem to have landed and it's all because I took Classical Mythology. Who knew that would happen? Perhaps we ARE all just puppets of the pantheon.
Classical Mythology with Mary Lefkowitz was the one class I entered Wellesley knowing I wanted to take. As soon as I could sign up for it, I did, and happy was I when I got a place therein my first semester. I remember feeling oh-so-clever for having paired it with astronomy. It was perfect, I figured--I'd learn the stories in one class and the accompanying constellations in the other. For kicks, I decided to go with Astronomy 110 instead of 101 because hey, I liked math and why not take the one with more math, but it was never going to be more than that. Imagine my surprise when I realized I liked the science too. I didn't plan to major in astronomy, or any science really. I assumed my major would be something to do with my high school strengths--writing, math, Spanish perhaps. Maybe psychology because I'd never studied it before and it seemed like the sort of thing one would "discover" in college. Astronomy was just a lark, conveniently scheduled to provide some additional inspiration for the class I was most excited to take.
As it turned out, I majored in astronomy and it shaped the first decade or so of my career. The second major (theatre, added when I decided not to go to grad school and dropped the original second major, physics, like a hot potato) helped too, as directing shows turned out to be surprisingly good training for project management, but STEM education is where I seem to have landed and it's all because I took Classical Mythology. Who knew that would happen? Perhaps we ARE all just puppets of the pantheon.