But this isn't a story about one of Middlebury's student musicians. The spring recital provided the capstone only to what Andrea Lally did in her spare time at the College. What she spent most of her time on was her work as a double major in history and German.
Many students fill their lives with activity.
What is unusual about this young woman is the truly remarkable level of her performance in so many areas and the way she integrated her studies and her avocations, each adding value to the others. Marjorie Lamberti, Charles A. Dana Professor in history and Lally's thesis adviser, initially worried a little about the student's commitments to both music and history. She told me privately about her schedule of recitals, and I could see she was taking on an ambitious set of goals. But it was not at all shortchanged, not at all. The Development of a 'Liberal' Historian in Imperial Germany.