Tonight, I had the pleasure of skyping in to the first Alpha Iota Sigma Honors Society Induction Ceremony to give a speech about the honors society. If you remember, this was a joint pet project for both Prof. Matlak and myself during my senior year, and it has finally come to fruition. 
(Skyping in was a touch weird, but it did work out).
It is incredible to know that this project finally became a reality, and that future interdisciplinary students can now benefit from such an honors society. But the entire honors ceremony took me back to where I was just a few years ago, when I submitted my application to CISS for my Medieval Studies second major. I didn’t really think that I’d be sitting here in Oxford pursuing a Masters degree just a few short years later. When people ask me about my experience with CISS and how I came to find the program, they typically think that I came into Holy Cross with the idea of making my own major from the get-go. And that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I just happened to take so many courses in the medieval period, and I fell in love with the themes that I found there. And the rest is truly history.
I guess now is a good time to announce that I will be staying in Oxford next year to begin my DPhil research. I do plan on coming back to the States one day, I swear! But for now, I’m staying here to complete the manuscript projects that I’ve begun (and, maaaaybe do some dancing on the side). So, here’s to the late nights, the dissertation crises, and the many, many manuscripts that I will look at over the next three to four years.
