Dear professors,

I was planning on sending out an update on my adventures up here in Toronto, but I wanted to wait until I had the results of the Fall
Latin exams to report. It turns out that I passed both the MA and PhD exams on the first try, a rare feat in the department up here but nothing amazing given the rigorous training you gave me at Swarthmore. I have been studying Latin for what seems to me to be a long time (almost half my life, which is a scary idea), but I could not have passed without being able to translate contextually, and that is an ability that your teaching specifically fostered. At the very least, cramming before seminars was terrific practice.

I have spent most of the summer doing preparatory coursework,
palaeography in June and advanced Latin in July and August, but I also found time to join the department softball team, volunteer regularly at a local vegan non-profit restaurant, and win a few rounds in the Latin scrabble league. That last part is something you should definitely consider starting up at Happy Hours, as it is surprisingly fun and also great practice.

Toronto itself is an extremely hospitable city. After a year in NYC
it’s a breath of fresh air, although I guess I haven’t seen the
purported misery of the winter. I don’t believe it will get any worse
than the brown slush and wet socks I experienced for most of my
Manhattan January, though. I can walk to the big hippie market at
Kensington, where they have a lot of cheap produce, as well as several restaurant rows.

Thanks again for your assistance over these past few years, both in
class and during my application period. I hope that things have gone well at Swarthmore and that this new year has begun well. Let me know the news and I’ll do my best to keep you up to date in return!

Take care,
Jamison