Leaning into archeology


I am Gwendolynn Payne, and I am 16-years-old and a junior at Hillside High School. I enjoy history and science classes over any other classes I have. I gained an interest in archaeology during my freshman year while taking a World History class. We had to do an end of the year project on a topic of our choice, as long as it was related to something we covered over the semester. While I was roaming around on the Internet, I found a link to a documentary on Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tut’s tomb.

Gwen Payne is a junior at Jordan High School and an Partners for Youth Opportunity intern working with the Durham VOICE.

Gwen Payne is a junior at Hillside High School and a Partners for Youth Opportunity intern working with the Durham VOICE.

I was fascinated when I saw how passionate Howard Carter, Lord Carnavon and their team was about their work. I became interested in Ancient Egypt because of its language really, such as the different Egyptian writing styles and their hieroglyphics. I’ve always wanted to read hieroglyphics and understand their meaning. Many people might not realize it, but there were differences between upper-class and lower-class Egyptian writing.

I think that being an archaeologist is important because when one discovers something or someone from the past, it helps provide insight into where our traditions come from. We all have traditions, but from where do these traditions evolve?

Being an entertainer is important, but anyone can entertain. What happened to those kids with dreams of becoming a scientist or an astronaut? Kids nowadays want to become known via music or singing. But back when they were younger, I’m sure they all had dreams of being something like a scientist or something else important like that.

What happened to those dreams?

I am a laid-back person. I’m not all that up to date with certain things that go on with society, but one thing that I have learned — is to never give up on your dream. Always reach for the stars, as long as you don’t give up you can do it.

Just reach.

I want my name be remembered in history and to be remembered for finding an ancient civilization or a lost city like Howard Carter. I’ve always wanted to travel the world for work and go to places like, Greece, Rome and Egypt. I want to meet new people that can teach me about the ancient ways, as well as learn where humans really came from. We all have one lifetime, so we should make the best of it because history remembers us forever no matter what we’ve done.

Let’s make it something good to be remembered by.

One thought on “Leaning into archeology

  1. My name is Teresa and I am with your dad. We both want to communicate with you. Honestly want to be able to talk and get you into his life. He needs you and enough time has passed that I want wounds to be healed and everyone to be b happy. Life is too short to hold on to bad stuff. Please call us

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