As a 16-year-old, current Oberlin College junior Alice Blakely first traveled to Khirbet Summeily, Israel, with her father, Oberlin alumnus Jeff Blakely, '74, to part take in a week-long archeological dig. Slightly apprehensive to archeology herself and uncertain of what to study as the prospect of college approached, this teenaged girl from Madison, Wisconsin, literally dug in and discovered a passion that would later define her life's goals.

"During the first dig in 2011, Susanne Grieve, a conservator and professor at East Carolina University-Greenville, came to present her work to the dig team," recalled Blakely. "It was an eye-opening experience for me. Her work was really interesting and I realized that with archeology, you have the ability to work in a lot of different places doing a lot of different things. You have freedom in what you do and you get to dig up and preserve the past, which is why it is interesting to me."

Following the 2011 excursion, Alice returned three years later with her father, teammate and 2015 graduate Jack Redell, and the Mississippi State University dig team for a month-long stay in Khirbet Summeily.

"Going back in the summer of 2014 for the full season was definitely more impactful than the 2011 trip," said Alice. "I was a lot more involved with the dig and it was a really interesting, really difficult work. Being an athlete helped because Israel is hot and the site was practically in the middle of the desert. Knowing how to push yourself and your body helped a lot." 

"There was a good vibe between diggers and a mutual bond and understanding that they all shared knowing that this is difficult work but fun and important historically."

Though the 2014 trip to Israel and the archeological work made a positive impact on Alice, leaving the country that summer would prove to be an adventure all it's own.

While in country, the 2014 Israel-Gaza Conflict broke out forcing, the entire dig team to be evacuated. 

"We were the last group of American digger to be evacuated when the fighting broke out," said Blakely. "The dig is led by my dad and another professor from Mississippi State and the dig team is made up of student's from MSU. Initially, my dad and the other dig leader were thinking they were going to stay and stick it out, but we were essentially kicked out of the country by the state authorities."

"I wasn't too worried because I had my dad, and I have never had a jaded view of the region because my dad has been going there for years and has always been safe."

She returned to campus the following fall and began preparing for the upcoming swimming season. Little did she know that her time would be spent going from digging up pieces of history to making it.

In the pool, Alice helped the Yeowomen to a fourth-place finish at the 2014-15 North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, the best finish in women's program history. A versatile swimmer, Alice has competed in the individual medley, freestyle and breaststroke in her three years under skipper Andrew Brabson.

"Alice is a key member of this team and the success of our women's program wouldn't have been possible without athletes like her," said Brabson.

As an Oberlin College student-athlete, Alice's curiosity and interest for conservation has only blossomed, to the point where she declared archeology as her major while minoring in art history and chemistry.

In the fall of 2015, Alice took a semester abroad to another epicenter of glorious ancient culture, Florence, Italy, to study the art of the Renaissance period, honing her conservation skills with Renaissance artifacts.

"I studied at an arts school in Florence this fall taking classes in art, art history classes, and a conservation class. My favorite class was a conservation class dealing with archeological objects. We learned a lot about the site the artifacts were from and I got to work with objects I hadn't worked with before. Out of the classroom, we [the class] traveled a lot throughout the country on field trips to see various sculptures, historical sites and art. It definitely made me grow up."

After returning from overseas, Alice hopped back into the pool to help the Yeowomen to a fifth-place finish at this year's NCAC meet. Entering her senior season, she owns the seventh fastest time in program history in the 100 breast and will be a key point-scorer at the conference meet.

With graduation a little over a year away, Alice has plans to head to graduate school for conservation with hopes of pursuing a career as a conservator in a museum. 

"I just knew I wanted to go to a small liberal arts school," said Blakely, when recalling why she chose to attend Oberlin. "I initially visited because of my dad, but after I got to campus I really enjoyed the swim team and the vibe around campus. When I came to Oberlin as a first-year I had no idea what I wanted to major in but I wanted to take a lot of classes and figure it out."

It would now seem that three years into her time at Oberlin, Alice Blakely has discovered a priceless artifact: her passion for art, its history and conservation.

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