Welcome to the podcast, Lauren Malkoun, a senior and double major in Archaeology and Italian at the University of Southern California (USC). Lauren is an extremely accomplished undergraduate who is pursuing a graduate degree in Archaeology this fall. On this episode we discuss the origins of her love for history and other cultures and how that morphed into choosing Archaeology as her major. Her first excavation experience was actually in highschool with an ArchaeoSpain high school program in Menorca, Spain. After her first year of college she ended up going back as a mentor for the very same program, and then conducted a secondary excavation with ArchaeoSpain that summer in Pompeii. We discuss what this fieldwork entailed and her must have items for fieldwork. We also discuss the importance of archaeological curriculum in elementary and middle school education and the work she does with the Archaeological Institute of America to promote this. Lauren is currently apart of several research projects at USC including a virtual reality project revolving around a book of hours, a type of prayer book. Lastly, we touch on the amazing archaeological museums in LA (La Brea Tar Pits and The Getty Villa) and her experience as a college student in the city. Follow her on instagram @laurendigs