Alumnus Profile: Jon-Paul M. ('07) in Cincinnati

Jon-Paul writes about his post-graduation experiences:

After being rejected from graduate programs in Egyptology and Near Eastern Studies, I started working as a laser printer repair technician after graduating from UE. After a few months of utter boredom, I found a position in Cultural Resource Management (CRM) with Skelly & Loy that led to a job with R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates. During this time, I worked in conditions ranging from 5 degrees and a foot of snow to 100+ degrees and forests of hand-sized spiders. After receiving advice from an Egyptologist, I left CRM to take graduate courses toward a Museum Studies certificate at the University of Cincinnati; while taking courses in Museum Studies and German language I worked ca. 70 hours per week as a convenience store clerk and an assistant to an autistic student in the Cincinnati Public Schools.

I then applied to and was accepted into the MA program in Geography with a specialty in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at the University of Cincinnati because I am interested in settlement archaeology in ancient Egypt, but I deferred until 2010 to compete for funding. During this time, I returned to CRM and worked for the Louis Berger Group and R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates once again. This time around I worked at many interesting sites, including a 17th-20th century site on the coast of Maryland, a prehistoric site in northern Florida, and a plowed mound site in Louisiana. I left CRM (again) in June 2010 to start an internship in the Cincinnati Art Museum's registration department in order to complete the requirements of the Museum Studies certificate program. As an intern, I am researching the donor history and their possible descendants for objects the museum intends to de-accession in September. I will begin classes in September toward the MA in Geography and plan to complete the degree in three quarters since I must rely solely on loans after all. In the future, I plan to apply to graduate programs in Near Eastern Studies with a specialization in Egyptology; I am interested in integrating GIS with Egyptian archaeology and studying the neighborhood and district in the urban environment of ancient Egypt.

JP spent one semester at the American University in Cairo while a student at UE.  He also excavated at the site of Khirbat al-Mudayna, Jordan.  For more information about Wilfred Laurier University's excavations at the site, click here.