April's Stellar Scholar: Olga Faccani!
Why are you pursuing classical literature?
My passion for Classical literature started while I was a high school student in Italy, my home country. I remember the excitement of reading ancient Greek or Latin texts and observing how certain themes, concepts, and sentiments transcend their historical time and speak to our present concerns and values. That same passion animates both my current research as a graduate student in the department of Classics and my work with The Odyssey Project, a collaborative theater process between incarcerated youth from a juvenile detention facility in the Santa Barbara area and undergraduate students from UCSB.
What are you particularly proud of or what have you worked particularly hard on during your time at UCSB?
I am proud of the support of my family and friends back home, who continue to be my greatest advocates. I am also grateful to be able to count on amazing colleagues in my department, who helped me overcome challenging times and were there to support me on several occasions. As a first-generation college student and international student, I am aware of the importance of having a support system, and, as an educator, I try to be available to my students to help them in their academic and personal growth.
Do you have any advice for other graduate students?
Graduate school can be really hard at times, and opening up about stressful challenges and fears to colleagues and friends can alleviate the pressure of coursework and research. I cannot think of a single graduate student who has never experienced imposter syndrome, or who has never had a bad week and felt like giving up. Sharing my fears and doubts with more experienced colleagues, and seeing how they also struggled with similar issues and could provide advice and support, was immensely helpful to normalize my challenges and feel hopeful I could overcome them.
Here's what Olga's nominator had to say about her: "She is not only a brilliant classicist but also a very bright public humanities scholar and an awarded teacher at our university! And she is a first generation scholar and international! She is a bright mind and a gem!"
Congratulations Olga!
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