Caitlin Acierno
Credentials: Leone Registrations, LLC
Majors: Classical Humanities, History, and Religious Studies
Year of Graduation: 2017
I am co-owner of Leone Registrations, LLC, a business I started with my dad in June of 2020. Our business works closely with non-profit organizations to register them in states with Charitable Solicitation Registration (CSR) requirements. Most states have specific laws that require a non-profit to be registered with the state before they are allowed to begin soliciting or fundraising in that state and each state has different laws and forms for registrations, so being a third-party registrar that focuses on the differences and laws allows us to provide a much needed service to the non-profits by taking the burden of knowing the laws, filing forms, and tracking renewal due dates off their shoulders and tracking those ourselves. The work is extremely detail-oriented, and a lot more complex than first glance, but I am enjoying the work so far and am excited to see where this can take me in the future.
In my free time I enjoy reading and knitting. I have an Etsy business that I try to keep up to date with baby blankets and washcloths mostly. I also enjoy rock climbing, roller skating, and swimming.
What motivated you to study Classics in college?
When I was in high school and trying to decide what I wanted to do in college, I was at a loss. I never excelled in math or science, so I knew that was not an option, but I enjoyed history and loved learning about greek mythology. My dad and I looked at the UW-Madison majors page to explore some options and Classical Humanities stuck out to me as something that would be interesting for me to study. Once I started classes, I realized how much I enjoyed learning about ancient societies and couldn’t wait to take as many classes as I could on the subjects. I added History and Religious Studies majors at the end of my sophomore year and then graduated with all three majors in December of 2017 (3.5 years).
How did your Classical Humanities major impact what you did after college, and are doing now?
I was on the fence for 2.5 years about whether I wanted to do a graduate program or not. I had jumped around between ideas about what I was interested in doing for a career, and if I wanted to put myself through another 3+ years of school and do a graduate program so I could get a job I would be interested in. In the end I decided that I didn’t want to pursue graduate studies yet and my dad came to me with the idea to start a business together. I was excited about the idea and so here we are. The writing skills I learned from all the papers I had to write with three majors in the humanities have helped me with all the letters we have to write to clients and to the states. Also, the organizational skills I was able to create during college helps me with keeping track of due dates and things I have to do to make sure that each client’s registration in each state is accurate and up to date.
What do you remember about your major or classes in Classics? What were the highlights?
I remember how much I enjoyed the classes I was taking, and that made studying and the papers that I wrote more enjoyable than if I hadn’t enjoyed my classes. I got to take a variety of classes on different topics that I was interested in and I also got to take some classes that I normally wouldn’t have taken if I hadn’t been pursuing a Bachelor of Arts. I took Ballroom Dance and discovered how exciting and fun taking a dance class at age 20 was. My favorite academic class was a class on King David taught by Professor Jeremy Hutton. I had already taken a class with Professor Hutton and had enjoyed it, so when I saw the King David class the next semester I signed up for it right away. It was the first semester that he taught the class and I learned so much! It was enlightening and fascinating to study a singular historical Biblical figure for an entire semester and learn all about what different sources from history had to say about one individual.