Latina est Gaudium!

Salvete! I have great news! So, in order to receive my degree, I am required to be proficient in another language relating to my studies. To show that you are proficient, you have to pass one of HDS' language proficiency exams.  They have these at the beginning and end of each year. If you fail, it means nothing.  It doesn't go on your transcript or anything.  So, having earned a certificate in Latin at Saint Louis University (SLU), I decided, why not? It would be foolish of me not to.

The exam was an hour long and I could use the aid of one dictionary.  I had to translate an excerpt from some medieval sermon about a Bible passage, which happened to be when some crowd was pressing heavily upon Jesus, etc. I found the beginning really difficult.  However, once passed that that, I did much better.  But, I ran out of time, not being able to complete the last 2-3 sentences.  I was pretty sure I failed, or at most barely passed.

Well guess what?! (as I'm sure you already have...).  I passed!!! The four possibilities are: Not Passing, Low Pass, Pass, or High Pass.  I got a Pass, so I did even better than I thought I would! As you can tell, I was pretty excited.  I'm taking a paleography and medieval manuscripts seminar this fall (the former is the study of the latter). I was a little intimidated, not sure if I would be up to par with my Latin.  This makes me feel much better.

With regards to languages, Harvard has a great summer language program.  This summer, I think I'm going to study German.  In addition to Latin, I took German during my last two semesters at SLU.  Ideally, I would like to pass the German proficiency exam as well.  If I had proficiency level for German and Latin on my PhD applications, that would make my application very competitive.

I don't have class on Fridays, so today's news is a great start to the weekend. And happy early birthday to McCoy!!!