A straight-A junior in public high school, Jeremy was eager to delve into his existing interest in the ancient world at a deeper level than his high school Latin courses allowed.
Deepen his Latin reading comprehension, vocabulary and translation skills by immersing himself in one ancient text in the original Latin.
Prepare for higher level academic work in the humanities by working with secondary readings and learning how to read and engage with such scholarship.
Develop his academic writing skills, synthesizing his translation and reading in a final argumentative paper.
Jeremy's mentor was an associate professor in Classics at Georgetown University who teaches Latin at all levels, alongside courses on ancient Roman art, architecture, urbanism, literature and culture.
Jeremy improved his technical skills in Latin, including reading comprehension and translation, and developed his acuity for literary analysis, looking at Seneca's play as a work of literature within its cultural and historical context.
Jeremy translated passages from Seneca's Thyestes using a Latin-English dictionary and a text and commentary designed for use by undergraduate and graduate students, discussing the meaning and grammar of each with his mentor during sessions. He also read and discussed secondary scholarship on Seneca.
For his final project, Jeremy completed a paper that engaged both primary and secondary scholarship, in which he argued that Seneca offers a more sympathetic view of animals (and their relative position vis-a-vis humans) in Thyestes than elsewhere in his other writings.
[My mentorship] not only strengthened my ability to utilize primary and secondary sources through scholarly research, but I also learned new ways to apply these skills in writing a research paper. Although this is more obvious, my Latin reading comprehension and translation abilities also improved. My mentorship also taught me new ways to approach and think about classical texts. These new skills and ways of thinking will no doubt assist me in college when I am doing any research project.
What really stands out to me was the opportunity to work independently with an expert on specific things of my choosing. It was very exciting (also enlightening) to have the guidance of an expert in a more intimate setting than would be provided in a lecture hall with a bunch of other students. My studies with my mentor accomplished precisely what I had set out to do, and then some. I not only accomplished my goals, but I studied and was intrigued by various other aspects of the field that I never would have known. Additionally, my experience with my Hugo mentorship also equipped me with the skills and confidence to tutor other Latin students (which is one thing that I am currently doing during my gap year).
I think Hugo did an amazing job pairing me with a mentor. She and I had such great chemistry that I can honestly say that I felt like the match was perfect. My mentor was outstanding for several reasons. For one, her expertise in and enthusiasm for her field stood out. This made the mentorship feel not only seamless and productive, but it also added to the depth of learning and fun throughout. My mentor was also very easy to communicate with, which was great because I always felt like we were both on the same page regarding my goals and my weekly tasks. Perhaps even more noteworthy is that I am still in touch with my mentor! I think this speaks volumes about her approachable and personable qualities as well as about her value as a mentor and as an expert in academia.
Increased academic self-confidence
Research skills
Organizational skills
Technical skills
Accomplishing a personal goal
Hugo has run hundreds of mentorships across dozens of fields. Each of them are unique and designed around the students background, goals and interests. Below are some of the final projects students developed during their mentorships.
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