SPRING QUARTER

CLASSES:

FRENCH 101: Elementary French
HONORS 222: Evolution and Human Behavior
JSIS 300: Claims and Evidence in International Studies
JSIS 499: Undergraduate Research

EXTRACURRICULARS:

Phi Alpha Delta Professional Development Committee
Research Assistant
ASUW GEC Intern

Research presentation

In April I was accepted to present my research (started in Sabine’s class) at the 22nd Annual European Union Undergraduate Research Conference. My presentation was titled “The rise of European Right-Wing Populism and its Implications for LGBTQ+ rights: A comparative analysis of Poland versus Sweden’s attitudes toward queer communities”. The conference was held at Scripps College, so it was an incredible excuse to spend a couple of days in sunny California, and visit friends that I had in the area. The conference itself was incredibly nerve wracking and pushed me far out of my comfort zone. Many of the students were presenting their senior theses that they had been perfecting for years. I was luckily joined by 7 other students from UW, so I felt supported enough.

Language courses

In Spring I finally confronted one of the banes of my existence: the International Studies major’s language requirement. Coming in with AP Spanish credit, it was very unclear how I could meet the JSIS language requirement. Where to start? Should I continue with Spanish or start a new language? What language will I use in the future? After several emails with the Humanities Academic Services advisers, and very few seats open in the Spanish class I needed, I decided to take French. I don’t regret taking French for a quarter, though my pronunciation of “quatre” was an affront to the French language. As you can see from my April playlist, if nothing else, taking French exposed me to a lot of really cool music that I enjoy to this day, so even if my final grade in the course was not what I desired, at least I found the icon that is Francoise Hardy!

Fulfillment!

By the end of sophomore year, I felt I had finally gotten into my groove. I was taking upper-level classes in my major, I had a research position and an internship, I was applying to on-campus jobs, and I felt personally fulfilled in my friendships and relationship. I started to feel like I was in the right place and doing the right thing. I also signed a lease with my best friends, and was ecstatic about the idea of not only having my own room, but living with people I was genuinely close to. Things had fallen into line for Summer, and though I knew it was going to be a packed couple of next months, I was more excited than nervous.