Shane Patrick

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My name is Shane Patrick and I am a sophomore at Princeton University. I hail from the Washington, DC area and I am the oldest of five children. At Princeton, I hope to major in Classics, and I am unsure about which certificates I might pursue. I've really enjoyed studying classics here and in my prior schooling. I love learning about the ancient Mediterranean world, and I'm especially interested in Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy and politics. My five favorite classical authors I've read are:

After college, I am considering a career in law. I haven't had much of a chance to get involved with a bunch of extracurricular groups here at Princeton, but I'm involved in the Catholic community, some political groups, the classics club, and the club squash team. I also play banjo in a folk singing group.

The banjo is usually my go-to "fun fact". It's pretty uncommon and it's a really good conversation starter. I love to play the banjo and I love to listen to blugrass music. Here's some more information on wikipedia about this style of music. I listened to a lot of bluegrass music growing up because the Patrick family has its roots in Southern Appalachia, the home of bluegrass music. I didn't start playing the banjo until about 3 years ago. During the quarantine, I began playing very consistently and I've really fallen in love with the instrument since then. I love getting to learn new tunes and getting to sing and play traditional songs. Here's a picture of me with my banjo from June 2021

I found a couple mandolins (click here for a video of some bluegrass mandolin) at my grandparents' house. Here's a picture of my great grandfather with his mandolin, from an online obituary. If you click on the picture, it will take you to a bluegrass video on YouTube.

I've tried learning a little mandolin, but the banjo is my real passion. Many instruments are tuned with reference to the "A 440" pitch. Here is that sound

Here's a list of my five favorite bluegrass artists:

  1. The Osborne Brothers
  2. Flatt and Scruggs
  3. Balsam Range
  4. Dailey & Vincent
  5. The Dillards

I enjoy sports and exercise. I like working out and staying in shape, but I also really enjoy the community that sports and exercise can provide. I ran cross country and track in high school, and I'm really grateful for the way that the sport of running and the team around me helped to shape me into who I am. Recently, I've started lifting weights, and here at Princeton, I've joined the club squash team. I had only played squash a couple times before coming here, and I really enjoyed it. A lot of my friends from high school played and I'm really grateful for the opportunity to learn this sport here at Princeton.

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Reread my bio!.