Henry Schott ’17 fell in love with languages in his 7th grade Latin class in Gainesville, FL. Now in his fourth year at Rhodes, the Greek and Roman Studies major has done some amazing things in the pursuit of his passion.
Schott got into the competitive side of Latin studies early, consistently placing high in tests and competitions sponsored by the Junior Classical League. In fact, it was his high school Latin teacher who recommended that he apply to Rhodes. Schott recalls, “Before I found Latin I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but when I walked into that first class my Latin teacher was amazing, my classmates were amazing, and so there was really a team dynamic that carried me on through middle and high school.” By 2014, he would be writing some of the tests that he had scored so well on, starting with the 2015 Florida Junior Classical League Advanced Grammar Test. Since then, Schott has written the 2016 National Junior Classical League Advanced Grammar Test and 2016 National Classical Etymology Exam, and will be writing the 2017 Advanced Reading Comprehension: Poetry test this year.
Schott’s early test writing opportunities also helped serve as a springboard to a 2015 internship at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C. Rhodes’ own Dr. Kenneth Morrell of the Department of Greek and Roman Studies serves as the center’s director of fellowships and curricular development, and Schott spent the summer of 2015 as the curricular development intern. While there he built upon the experience he gained with the Junior Classical League and helped design curricula for various symposiums and course offerings from the center.
In addition to his studies at Rhodes, Schott has spent a semester in Italy studying Roman Classics through a program with Duke’s Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies, traveled to West Virginia for a conversational spoken-Latin convention, and last semester competed in the Boston Elite Certamen, a national, tournament-style competition in Classics knowledge, where his team placed fourth.
Now approaching graduation, Schott intends to continue pursuing his love of linguistics. His interest in languages goes beyond Latin, however. “This is my third year of Russian, fifth year of Greek, 10th year of Latin, and I guess my 22nd year speaking English,” he says. Schott is currently applying to graduate programs in Classical studies. A lover of theater and the Classics, he hopes to eventually pursue both of his passions in a career as a researcher of ancient comedy.
By Kenneth Piper ’17