Fueled by a desire to become a teacher, Loren Mayshark entered Hunter College in 2008, with the intention of gaining a master's degree in two years. Six years and tens of thousands of dollars later, he abandoned his studies without attaining the deg...
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By the spring semester of 2010 I was finally out of my neck brace and relieved to be in the program. I was told by family members with master's degrees, professors inside Hunter, and other academic types I knew outside that once I was in the program everything would be easier. In the program I would have little to worry about, since I would have an exact path to navigate toward graduation. I scrambled to find the proper courses for that semester, which were filling up fast (since the program offered roughly seven classes total, in all concentrations). I felt I was behind in this process, and wanted to get into as many classes as possible so I could get to the thesis project I had dreamed about since working with the kind Latino laborers on Long Island.
Early in the semester I met with my advisor, Professor Joshua Rosencrass, who had taken the place of Hannah Wallace as graduate advisor, in an attempt to find a tenable course of study to get my degree as soon as possible. At first he was unsure whether the institution even offered an MA in Latin American history. He tried to tell me that the Latin American history program simply did not exist. But I insisted that I had applied to this program and was accepted as a nonmatriculated student and later fully accepted into the MA program with a concentration in Latin American history. It was not until I directed him to the course catalogue on Hunter's website, as we sat together in his office, that he acknowledged that they did in fact have such a program. He gave me a befuddled look and said, "I guess it says they do offer Latin American history," and returned his attention to the computer screen.
In common with several other programs at Hunter, there was no comprehensive exam offered for Latin American history, which at that time meant earning a degree in Latin American history was impossible unless an exam was written specifically for the student. I expressed my concern that the college did not offer many courses in Latin American history, but Professor Rosencrass assured me that if I continued in the program, there would be greater opportunity for Latin American studies, because they were in the process of bringing in an esteemed professor from Columbia University, Molly Regresso, who specialized in Latin American history. He assured me that she would solidly anchor the program at Hunter. He said that he would accept my slate of classes as "an approved course of study" as long as I made my best effort to look within and outside the institution (at the other CUNY schools) for appropriate classes to finish my degree. I heartily agreed to make my best effort, elated that I was finally on the right track toward graduation.
In the meantime, he advised me to contact Professor Regresso, who was on a sabbatical and would not be at Hunter until the fall semester of 2010. He believed that she could aid me in the creation of the comprehensive exam in Latin American history. He was admitting that no such exam existed. Regardless, the course catalogue advertised degrees in "Latin American, African, Middle Eastern, East Asian, Jewish History . . ." in which the student is required to pass an examination in the specific field of study. But when I had inquired about the Latin American exam, I was informed that the US and European exams were the only ones available for the MA in history. Professor Rosencrass believed that if I could develop a rapport with Professor Regresso, she would not only design an exam but could possibly advise my thesis. She sounded like the perfect solution to all of the problems that stood between the degree and me. My despair was replaced with hope.
At the suggestion of Professor Rosencrass, I began a protracted email correspondence with Professor Regresso. In the correspondence we discussed my situation and she encouraged me to sign up for her lone graduate history class in the fall, Colonial Latin America. She was unable to meet with me before the semester, but she assured me that we would be able to meet as soon as the semester commenced. No one would be available to help me in between. In addition to Professor Regresso's Colonial Latin America, I signed up to take two more classes in the fall, which would give me the magical total of nine needed to fulfill the coursework requirement of my degree: Modern Intellectual History and the History of US/Latin American Relations, which I took at Lehman College with the brilliant Professor Rodriguez. At that time I was forced to move out of the city because my relationship with Nora was deteriorating and my financial situation had become dire.
Note from the Course Catalogue: "The History Department at Hunter College offers courses in the history of the United States, the ancient world, medieval and modern Europe, Russia, Jewish studies, the Middle East and Islamic world, Latin America, Africa, East Asia and South Asia . . ." from the Hunter College of the City University of New York Graduate Catalog 2006–2009. http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/history. Accessed February 17, 2017.
