Discovering the Gifts the Past Left Us by Emma

Discovering the Gifts the Past Left Us by Emma - August 2022 Scholarship Essay

Deciding to go to Community College instead of a four-year institution was not easy for me. I have a wide variety of interests including archaeology, history, art, and astronomy. I was always intrigued by Confucius’ quote “Choose a job you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life.” I want to love my career, and because I have so many interests I was very conflicted. How do I choose? Will I make the right decision the first time? I felt very conflicted about my long term goals regarding my career. When I graduated high school, I didn't feel ready to make such an important decision. Some soul searching was in order. Would I discover the documents lost in the historic burning of the Library of Alexandria, or will I further explore the meaning of the universe by studying distant stars and planets billions of light years away? The pressure to make such an absolute decision was overwhelming at such a young age, so I decided to continue my education at a two year college where I could take time to figure out what I wanted to do; I could focus on core classes, gain experience and knowledge in fields I was potentially interested in joining, and take electives that would ultimately help determine my final area of study. I also completed all the credits necessary to graduate with honors from two separate programs I pursued of my own volition.
Now that I have a better understanding of myself and my interests, I feel ready to take the next step in my life and commit to a four-year institution. Currently my plan is to graduate with a Bachelor's Degree with the intention of furthering my education with a Masters Degree or PhD.
As an anthropologist historian I have many specific fields of study I am interested in including late Bronze Age Mediterranean trade, the collection at the late library of Alexandria, and pre-Christianized Celtic religion. Out of those specialized fields, pre-Christianized Celtic religion interests me the most and will be the area of study that I specialize in. My current knowledge of Celtic religion is limited to what I have learned through academic articles, documentaries, museums, and books, and I would deeply appreciate learning more about this topic in an academic setting. That is what drew me to St. Mary’s College, It's specialty in archeology.
Winston Churchill once said “the farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” Today, we are facing a climate crisis threatening all life on Earth, a crisis occurring due to the reckless production practices of today. If you look back throughout history, people have been thriving without causing much harm to Earth's ecology or energy balance. One of my goals as a historian is to not only find ways to implement sustainable and eco-friendly production practices of the past with modern day eco-friendly technologies, but also to keep alive cultural traditions and/or revive old traditions that have been lost. One way I will work on achieving that goal is to start my PhD with a thesis on Celtic Druidic training. The ancient Celtic Druids knew almost all there was to know about the nature around them, such as specific ways plants, rocks, and minerals could be used in medicine, textiles, architecture, and more. They also knew how to use the land in sustainable ways, such as sustainable agriculture and deforestation practices. This knowledge will be crucial moving forward into a more eco-friendly world, but sadly most of the Druidic knowledge has been lost to time. Through my studies I will try to recover that knowledge, not only to help paint a clearer picture of pre-Christian Celtic culture, but also to assist us in the future.