Mark Irving graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in History and Minor in Latin, Summer 2015. He is currently enrolled in the Graduate Program at Boise State University, pursuing a Master of Arts degree in History. He has been invited to give lectures on Roman History while working on this degree, where he has also shared both his knowledge of Latin and the correct pronunciation of Classical Latin with the faculty and students in attendance. In his own words:
My education in Latin has contributed very much to my graduate studies. My degree emphasis is Gardens and Greco-Roman philosophy in the 1st centuries BCE and CE. This degree greatly utilizes the skills I learned in during my undergrad. Those skills have allowed me to work directly with primary source manuscripts, and to properly critique translations with which I have to work. One of the ways that Latin has helped me accomplish my goals is by allowing me to work with a Ninth-Century manuscript copy of Lucius Annaeus Seneca’s Letters. My interest in Seneca was the primary contributing factor in shaping my graduate studies, and was the primary contributing factor in why I studied Latin to begin with. To be able to work with an actual manuscript copy of Seneca was, in my opinion, the culmination of my studies of the Latin language. Few things have made me more proud than to be able to do that.
The thing that I did not predict, but endlessly enjoy, is to be able to interject my knowledge of the Latin language into conversations with my friends by pointing out interesting cognates as they pop up in day-to-day life. I’m certain that they think of me as a pedant at times, judging by their rolling eyes, but I find those things interesting and they allow me to give them a deeper understanding of some of the words we use. Plus it has given me the nickname “Google,” or as a portmanteau of that and my name “Mark-le.” In sum, I think that a Latin language education has provided me with the tools to have a more profound understanding of the world around me, and ultimately makes me a better-rounded person. I think that any second language provides the student with a greater depth of understanding of the world, and also allows for different ways of looking at the world. I always say that I didn’t know how to properly speak (and write) English until I took Latin. Latin in particular I find to be extra interesting because of its persisting legacy in Euro-American culture.
One of the most interesting things that I did while earning my Latin Language Minor was working on the Historia Scholastica. It blew my mind that I was able to touch, interact with, and translate the oldest book in the state. In 2015, I had the opportunity to travel to the heartland of the Latin language: Italy. No other experience changed my life as much as that. During that vacation I was the walking translator for all of the Latin inscriptions my aunt and I came across, of which there were many. My Latin Minor enriched that experience immeasurably.