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Maria Catherine Philomena Mahoney
"The joy I receive in the life of the mind makes me want to share it with everyone else as well - particularly children most likely to be shut out of the 'Great Conversation.'"
- Program: 2006 Graduate Scholarship Recipient
- Hometown: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Four-year College or University: Louisiana State University
- Graduate School: National University of Ireland
- Academic/Career Pursuits: Arts / Music / Performance, Classics, Education / Academia, Languages, Liberal Arts, Literature, Religion
- Other Interests: Church / Religious Organization, Honor Society, Performing Arts / Theatre, Tutoring / Mentoring, Volunteer Work, Music, Dance
Biography
When Maria Mahoney was a student at LSU, she concluded that the key to history lay in reading actual documents of the day. She embarked on a linguistic odyssey - studying Old and Middle English, Old Irish, Old Norse, Arabic, and Latin. Old Irish emerged as the most fascinating, says Maria, because of Ireland's pivotal role in European history and the wide interests shown by the Irish scribes.
Before she gets a Ph.D. in Old Irish, Maria wants to be well grounded in Latin, Arabic, and Greek, and will pursue a master's in the classics. She intends to teach medieval language, history and literature at the university level, while continuing research in Ireland. She also wants to translate ancient Irish texts. Her ultimate goal is to create an Old Irish program at an American University.
Maria intertwines her love for her family and her love for learning by home schooling her seven younger siblings-sharing new subjects as she learns them. She has known that she wanted to be a teacher since her first tutoring job at age 11. Maria hopes to use her language education to advance her work with disadvantaged children. "Already, I have had great success using my Latin, Old English, and Old Irish training in developing reading, writing, speaking, listening, debating, and reasoning skills in my students."
Other Scholars Like Maria
Salvatore Bohrer
Graduate Scholar
University of Amsterdam
Aaron Jessup
Graduate Scholar
University of California, Davis
Whitney Johnston
Undergraduate Transfer Scholar
New York University
Maxwell Matite
Undergraduate Transfer Scholar
American University