USD Magazine Fall 2019

CLASS NOTES USD MAGAZINE

CHRIS PARK

[ s a f e g u a r d i n g ]

by Karen Gross W Alumna takes good care of hi stor ical art i facts T H ES E PR EC IOUS T H I NGS hen Melanie Dellas ’13 (MA) decided to go back to school, she a history degree?’” At a crossroads in her life,

“They said they’d make it work with whatever my schedule was, and they did,” she says. “My adviser, Professor Michael Gonzalez, was amazing and helped me every step of the way.” But Dellas’ long-term plan never materialized. That’s actually a good thing. During the first semester of her master’s program, an internship at the San Diego Museum of Man (SDMoM) put her on an unex- pected course that changed the trajectory of her life. There, she worked with mummies, cleaning

American Casino and San Diego Performer . But her lifelong pas- sion was history, and she dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. “I’ve always loved history. I always loved to read about it,” she says. “But I thought, ‘What am I actually going to do with

Dellas opted for the unknown. She figured she’d get a PhD and teach, and found USD in her search for a university that was willing to work with the day-to-day reality of being a single mother.

was parenting two young sons on her own after a divorce. A writer and a business owner, Dellas had spent a decade publishing two successful magazines: Native

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USD MAGAZINE