Harry Clune, Templeton junior, asked Rose Newmiller a few questions to learn more about her, and her experience at Templeton and Eastern. This interview was conducted over email.
- Why did you decide to transfer to the Honors College at Eastern?
I was drawn to Templeton initially because of the classical approach to education. When I first started college two years ago, I had zero experience with classical education and no particular interest in it. I went to public schools from kindergarten to graduation and simply never had an opportunity to experience a true classical liberal arts education. However, when I started attending a small Christian college after high school, I met many people who had graduated from classical Christian high schools, and I found myself rather jealous of the education they received. I can probably count on one hand every book assigned to me in high school that was actually worth reading, but my friends who went to classical schools got to read Dante, Augustine, Plato, and so many other brilliant writers who I was never exposed to in public school. My friends' classical education was about much more than the test scores that dominated my schooling; it was about habituating yourself to live a good and virtuous life. I spent time at my old college wishing I could have received the kind of education some of my peers had received before discovering Templeton and realizing that I still have a chance at receiving that kind of education. That wasn't all, though, because what really sealed the deal for me was the Templeton session at a Virtual Open House I attended. It's difficult for me to understand -- much less explain -- what exactly about the session made me feel this way, but during it, I just felt truly seen and heard as an individual and as a whole person, especially by the faculty present (shout-out to Mr. P!). As soon as I felt that feeling, I knew Templeton had something I had been unknowingly craving from my education for a very long time.
- What has drawn you to become an education major and what do you hope to do with it?
I have a long story about how I was inspired by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton one day while I was roaming St. Patrick's Cathedral, but I'll spare you the details of all that. Basically, I realized that devoting myself to the education of children seemed an awful lot like "the good life" to me, so I decided I ought to do that. I have a couple of different ideas of what I might want to do with my education degree, but I'm unsure which ideas will actually come to fruition. There is the obvious idea of becoming a teacher, but I'm also interested in other parts of education, like curriculum development. I do plan on getting my MAT in Classical Education through Templeton, and I really hope to use the principles of classical education that I learn about at Templeton in some kind of public school setting. I know that would be kind of difficult, but it would just make me really happy if I could give kids in public school a valuable opportunity that I didn't have when I was their age.
- What do you do for fun outside of the classroom?
I enjoy singing and other kinds of performance. I'm in the Gospel Choir on campus and am planning on auditioning for the musical next spring. I also like playing cards and playing really intense tennis games with some of the friends I've met here. I think probably the best parts of my free time, though, are spent simply having good, long conversations with people. I like it when I get to talk theology or philosophy or politics with friends or even when we just talk for a while about what's going on in our lives. It might sound kind of boring to some people, but I really enjoy passing the time that way.
- What have you enjoyed most about Templeton so far?
I've really enjoyed the community. I genuinely like so many of the people in my cohort. I was able to make a lot of friends fairly quickly here, which isn't a super common occurrence for me. I think the camping trip really helped our cohort bond with each other. Many of the THC professors and upperclassmen also really do a great job of making the new cohort feel included in the community of Templeton as a whole.
