BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – While many students will be bundling up to ring in the New Year, Illinois Wesleyan University junior Aislinn Lowry’s plane will be touching down in Egypt, taking her to excavations of the ancient world.
Lowry, a Greek and Roman Studies major, has been accepted into Excavations at Amheida program through New York University. She is one of only 10 undergraduate students chosen from across the nation, and is the first Illinois Wesleyan student admitted into the program.
“To say this is an opportunity of a lifetime is an understatement. I’ll be learning from the most innovative minds in the field today,” said Lowry, a Jefferson City, Mo., native. She will arrive in Egypt on Dec. 31 and will return in late March 2009.
The Excavations at Amheida program combines classroom seminars, field trips and work on a functioning archaeological dig site. Nestled in the Dakhleh Oasis in western Egypt, the site draws professionals from around the world. “When we are working on the site, we will be there from sun-up to sun-down, and staying at the field house at night with some of the top archaeologists in the world,” said Lowry.