Graduate Alumni Spotlight | Archer O’Brien, M.A.‘20

I was educated at state schools from the age of 4-17. I did my undergraduate work at Mount Saint Mary’s with a double major in history and international relations and a minor in French. I did my graduate work right here at Hood College. My program was the master’s in humanities with a concentration in history.

My career background is more unorthodox than most. I’m currently self-employed in the resale industry. I resell luxury goods through most major platforms, and I receive royalties from my book.

Hood’s long history of academic preparation at all academic levels—and the combination of rigorous and intensive research, personal and professional development with the liberal arts core, and ethos—drew me to Hood College. 

I was looking for options to finish graduate school when I was homeless and living out of a hotel room, and the humanities program director, Corey Campion, happened to answer the phone.

My experience at Hood prepared me for almost anything. My career path is not as linear as your average graduate. I’ve been able to strike out as an independent business owner and author because I was exposed to everything at Hood—philosophy, modern languages, the arts, social sciences and economics. This gave me a firm foundation from which anything was possible.

Hundreds of hours at the student union, sorting through materials at the library and intensive meetings with faculty guided me to the ultimate goal of finishing my degree--and more sandwiches than I can count.

The process of writing a book is nowhere near as straightforward as it would appear. The challenges with this project included illness, surgery, working remotely with my entire editorial team, deciding how many personal anecdotes to include and straddling the line between a manifesto and a book.

I suppose my biggest success was finishing the book, but for this project, success can be described as believing that something better is possible, putting that “something better” on paper and then placing it into the rollicking marketplace of ideas to be accepted or rejected by my fellow citizens.

I hope that people realize that our social welfare system is unstable and that whether or not anything comes from the central premise of my book, doing nothing is not an option. It’s time to bring our social programs in line with 21st century realities. Chief among these is that our shared communal life is not a competition, but that we all need some kind of mutual assistance to thrive and be the best version of ourselves.

I love to cook! I also paint, am a photographer of plant life and dabble in video games.

Inspired by Archer’s accomplishments in the humanities program? Ready to #GOFURTHER in your career? Learn more about Hood College’s graduate programs, such as humanities, by clicking here.