Larissa first started studying Latin as a junior in high school and quickly fell in love with it. She had been called to attend Gordon College since before she encountered Latin, and was disheartened to find that Gordon did not offer majors in Latin or the Classics. Hoping to solve this problem and find a way to study the Classics at Gordon, Larissa applied to the Pike Honors Program, a program that allows academically competitive students to create majors tailored to their own special interests through interdisciplinary coursework and independent studies. Upon being accepted into Pike, Larissa declared Classical Languages and Classical History as her newly-crafted majors. In the beginning of her sophomore year she was asked to be a teaching assistant for a first-year Koine Greek course, a position she held for two years. Since then she has also been a teaching assistant for second-year Greek, first-year Latin, and courses in Greek and Roman history.
Larissa has a strong passion for Latin, Greek and the ancient world, and is excited about the prospect of sharing that love with others. She appreciates the unexpected proximities of the ancient and modern worlds, and views language as one of the most important keys to understanding the connections between those worlds. It is impossible to study a language like Latin without also incorporating some study of history and culture. And as Christians, we have a special obligation to recreate the past as accurately as possible; for all human beings have been created in the image of God, and we owe it to them to tell their stories the best and truest way we can. It is to this end that the study of Latin is of the utmost importance: it is the primary tool for unlocking the stories, personalities, beliefs, fears and dreams of the people who lived during the years when Latin was spoken.
|
