Our next spotlight features Audrey Crippin, a graduating Butler student who, expanding upon her love for the ancient world, paired her path in the Butler Pharmacy Program with a Classics major! Read her story below:
For the first time in nearly a year, I found myself in Jordan Hall 202. I’ve spent my last year at Butler traveling back and forth between Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Kansas City for pharmacy school rotations. I’ve been in a constant state of traveling (and minor disarray), but as soon as I walked into the Classical Studies department I immediately felt stability. My involvement in Classics has been a rock during my 6 years at Butler, it’s given me a break from all my science classes and given me an outlet for thought and creativity. As I approach graduation on May 11, I’m still trying to figure out how I will keep classics as a prominent part of my life.
Mid-January 2014 I went to my first day of a class that would end up shaping the rest of my college career. I’d always loved Greek mythology, it was an interest that started back with a project in elementary school, so I was excited to learn that I could fulfill my PCA requirement with a course titled “Greek Art & Myth”.
I was so intimidated the first day, the professor required active participation each class and for a shy introverted freshman that TERRIFIED me. Thankfully Dr. K pushed me out of my comfort zone. As the semester went on I grew more comfortable speaking up in class and would always look forward to Tuesdays and Thursday when I would get to read instead of studying anatomy or chemistry. I don’t remember exactly at what point it was in the semester but Dr. K talked to the class about becoming a classics major or minor. I spoke with her after class, telling her how much I wanted to become a classical studies minor but how worried I was about the probability of completing the course work on top of pharmacy school. Dr. K reassured me it was possible and then personally walked me to the College of Liberal Arts secretary where I dropped off my minor request form.
Since then I brushed up on my elementary Latin (skills I hadn’t used since sophomore year of high school), studied the art & architecture of Greece & Rome, dove into Ancient Greek Perspectives, spent 5 weeks abroad working an archaeological site in Nemea, Greece, and worked for two years as a lab intern with the AMCA Mobile Lab.
All of these experiences have shaped who I am as a person. I believe liberal arts courses are critical to developing analytical thinking and personal values. Black and white may be important in pharmacy when it comes to understanding what drug is right or wrong for a patient, but I believe that understanding the gray area and varying interpretations of the liberal arts helps set me apart from my other pharmacy colleagues. Classical Studies has made me a better person, I believe these courses and experiences have increased my ability to understand other’s viewpoints, empathize, and critically analyze information and ideas.
I finished my 2-year internship with the AMCA Mobile Lab last May (2018). Since then I have been on a year of pharmacy rotations, where each month I shadow/work at a different type of pharmacy. I’ve loved getting to experience so many different facets of my career but I’ve always felt a pullback to Classics. I have missed the little pockets of my day where I was challenged to think in a different way than usual. As I approach graduation I’ve been spending time thinking about how I can incorporate classics into my career and life as a college graduate. I don’t want Classical Studies to just be something I did in college, I want to be able to continue to grow and develop my interest in ancient cultures. While I may not know exactly how to incorporate classics into my daily life just yet, I know it will always be a passion I carry with me.