Greenwich Academy Latin teacher Dr. Lindsay Sears-Tam hails from a sprawling Victorian house in the heart of Maine, where she spent much of her childhood immersed in books. After later being inspired by an incredible Latin teacher to major in Classics at Smith College, Dr. Sears-Tam taught undergraduate students at Cornell University.
At present, she can be found wearing earrings made from glass found at an ancient Roman archeological site, re-watching The Office, Parks and Recreation and Lost, and sporting five tattoos, one of which is a medical alert for diabetes.
What’s your favorite tattoo?
My favorite is an atom symbol because it’s the logo of the place my wife and I met—where she used to work. She has a matching one a little higher on her back.
Which one mythological character would you want to live the life of?
Maybe Minerva or Diana… One of the ones who are really independent and don’t get involved in drama. The reason I’d want to be an Olympian god as opposed to a mortal character is because the mortals get jerked around a lot in mythology by the gods and often have short, unpleasant lives… I think I’d rather be something more powerful.
Which one character in a TV show would you be?
Buffy’s a pretty cool character, although she’s a little ditzy… But I love the main character of The Good Wife. I could be her for sure. Her character is so powerful.
What’s your favorite site in Italy?
I love Ostia Antica. It’s just outside the city of Rome, and it was the ancient port city…. almost all the buildings are still intact. It’s really amazing; you can just walk down the street and be in a town from 300 BC. It transports you completely.
What’s your favorite word in Latin?
Pietas: a sense of duty and honor and doing what you’re fated to do.
What invention do you wish you were present for?
It would’ve been cool to see the first person come up with fire… and I would love to have been in the room when the first person pitched the iPod. That’s such a defining moment.
Broadly speaking, what defines you?
The quest for knowledge—I have a tattoo on my shoulder of the tree of knowledge and I have a quote in Latin that means, “Knowledge itself is power.” That’s my raison d’être.
