Annalise Welte ’12
Alumni Profile
JOB TITLE: Membership assistant
ORGANIZATION: The Frick Collection
LOCATION: New York, New York
GRADUATE DEGREE: M.S. in history of art and design, M.S. in information and library science , Pratt Institute
What was your first position after college?
I went to graduate school immediately after college. I was looking into programs for library science as I was interested in early manuscripts, incunabula, and the history of the book in general. I was very influenced by my classics major. Many of the texts I studied while at the Trinity College Rome Campus were in Greek or Latin or had major classical language influences.
Has a liberal arts education helped you in shaping your career?Most definitely. My current graduate program is for a dual degree that combines study of the history of art and design and study of information and library science. These two fields draw from many disciplines, making a liberal arts education a beneficial foundation.
What aspects of your Trinity experience have been important to advancing your career or graduate school experience?
Academic excellence is key. Being able to keep up with the rigor of a graduate program would be much more difficult if I had not experienced the standards held by Trinity professors and especially the standards held by professors in the Classics Department.
What advice would you give to Trinity students to prepare for a position in your field?
Take advantage of the resources at hand. Explore the Watkinson and visit the Wadsworth Atheneum. So many Trinity students don’t realize all the wonderful opportunities that are available to them on campus and in Hartford. That said, campus activities and internships are certainly helpful, but eventually it all comes down to courses. I would also advise students to make strong connections to their professors – they are the best resources, and students often don’t realize this until later on.
What is the biggest misconception about graduate school?
Graduate school, in my experience, is not as overwhelming or as intimidating as many perceive. I am in a dual master’s program studying library science as well as art history. The field of library and information science is not the most common, and some may see it as being old fashioned or no longer relevant. In reality, my library courses were thrilling, and I’ve been able to learn about a vast array of subjects from information architecture to digital library curation.
