To which classical figure do you most relate and why? Probably Caesar, since he believed in getting things done properly and had a curiosity about the world around him. When did you know you wanted to be a classicist? I began Latin in 11th grade. In college I thought I would teach elementary school; I walked into my first "ed" course and walked out immediately and headed back to Latin and Greek! Who has been the most important mentor in your career? Louise Heckman was the Latin teacher in our middle school when I came. She had taught for many years and was most open and welcoming to me. Any time I had a question, she answered it, and she always encouraged me to do what I thought was right. The other person is my mother, who told me that I had had the best high school teachers in NYC and should remember how they taught. What book has been most influential to your career? I read all the time, but I don't think there is one book that has made me into a teacher. What trend in Classical Studies do you see as positive? Interest in language and culture studies as a whole. Nothing exists in a vacuum and we can all learn from each other. What trend in Classical Studies do you see as negative? The idea that any one person teaches the "right" way or uses the "only" textbook. What book are you currently reading? I'm in the middle of the new Harry Potter; just finished Dan Brown's Deception Point; really enjoyed John Maddox Roberts' Nobody Loves a Centurion. If you could travel back to ancient Rome, what five items would you take with you from the present? Pencillin, indoor plumbing, dictionary, bug spray, deck of cards What is the best advice you have ever received? My father said "Make the world a better place after you die than it was before you were born." When and where in the Classical World would you have liked to live? Actually, I wouldn't have liked to have lived then; I always tell my students not to go back in time before penicillin and indoor plumbing.

Ruth Breindel is a Latin teacher at the Moses Brown Schol in Providence, Rhode Island School. Ruth is the winner of AbleMedia's Gold, Silver, and Bronze Chalice awards for her submission of You Can Do That with PowerPoint?. How would you like to be remembered? As a mother, teacher, friend If it were possible, with whom, dead or alive, from the world outside of Classical Studies would you like to have dinner? Isaac Asimov What law, rule, event, or custom from Classical times would you like to see reincarnated today? Festivals that honor nature What is one thing about Classical Studies you wished your students understood? All knowledge is important and everything is connected to everything else. What is the most interesting thing in your car right now? A bicycle pump What literary character do you most resemble? I really have no idea... What would have you become if not a Classicist? A history or English teacher, or maybe a librarian (I love organization). If you had been born a boy/girl, what would your name have been? My mother was determined to have a girl; no other name was picked out. Summarize yourself in the title of a Classics paper. Mythology and its relevance today What would be the title of your autobiography? The Older You Are, The Better It Gets If it were possible, with whom, dead or alive, from Classical times would you want to deliver your eulogy? Caesar - clear and concise What five albums would you want to have with you if you were stranded on a desert island? The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel (you can tell I'm from the 60s!)