Meet the Sistorians
BIG SISTER LAURA
At GSCE we had the choice of either History or Geography. My 13 year old self opted for Geography - volcanoes and tornadoes sounded way more interesting than old things... How wrong I was!! If I had my time again I'd definitely pick History! A few years later, whilst choosing A-Levels, Classics was an option and got my attention. I went with it, loved every minute, and later took Classical Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London.
I nearly did a Masters, then thought maybe I wanted to be a Classics teacher so got myself a Latin AS-Level instead, (I'd studied Ancient Greek at university but the Classics PGCE teaching courses at the time asked for Latin...). But after all that I decided to stay in the job I was already in - paralegal at an insurance firm! Not very history-ish...
Many, MANY years later I'm still in insurance, but keep history very much in my life as a constant, well-loved hobby. Luckily Caroline shares the same love so it's been an easy hobby to cultivate. Occasionally I even manage to persuade my husband to get in on the action, who despite being indifferent to history when we met, now has a top ten list of amphitheatres...
Doing the podcast with Caroline is a real joy - I feel very lucky!
LITTLE SISTER CAROLINE
Obviously as the little sister I copied most of Laura's A-Level choices and almost followed her to university. But at the last minute I resolved to forge my own path, (i.e. follow my best friend to Warwick...), and study Classical Civilisation there instead. Little did I know what a great place Warwick was and is to study Classics. Great tutors made me fall even more in love with the subject - so much so that I eventually decided to do a Masters with the Open University...which I swiftly finished over the course of 15 years...
DO let me know if you have trouble sleeping and I can send you a copy of my MA dissertation. However, it is due to the writing of that, which means not only do I have a soft spot for Trimalchio (of Satyricon fame), but more importantly a great interest in Sensory Studies.
And that is my journey to starting this podcast with Laura. She is indeed very lucky...
The night we decided to give Sistory History a whirl! (May 2022)
Our first business meeting!
(September 2022)