And we’re back with some updates!

I’m just finishing up with midterms and wanted to write a bit about my senior year and what I have been up to in New Orleans. Like usual, I have been staying busy! I am in 19 credit hours, have taken on some new leadership roles, and try to squeeze in social time with friends whenever I can. I have also been thinking a lot about how my three majors will combine into whatever I choose to do after graduation…

Like I said, I have a full course load, but I have been enjoying all my classes so far because of how interdisciplinary they are. I am taking Globalization and Media and Campaigns and Elections, two courses that nicely mix my Political Science and Communications majors in very different ways. My French class is a seminar about “la littérature engagée,” specifically, how French literature has the power to influence socio-political movements such as the Nazi occupation of France and the current “Gilets Jaunes” protests. I am also progressing through Spanish and currently taking an intermediate-level course. Finally, my Newcomb Scholars honors research seminar is focused on research methods, presentation skills, etc. that will help me as I prepare to present my research at the symposium in March.

In addition to my normal courses, I am also working on two interdisciplinary projects this year that combine my three majors. My honors thesis is about how during the France 2002 and U.S. 2016 presidential elections, earned media spread populist discourses, ultimately producing a “surprise” election result. I have been working on this project on-and-off since January and am excited to start piecing it together and exploring this topic more! I am also doing a remote internship with the U.S. Department of State’s African Media Hub this year. Whenever they hold press conferences, I perform media analytics and create readouts about the news and social media responses to these events, complete with French-to-English translations whenever necessary. 

So this brings us to the question everyone seems to be asking, “What’s next?” When my friends aren’t taking about the LSAT, they’re probably talking about the GRE or MCAT, and when they aren’t talking about applications for their next degree, they’re probably talking about how to get Fulbright grants or real-people jobs. I don’t know exactly where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing after this year, and I most likely will not know for a while, but I am excited to see where I end up! For now, I keep adding new deadlines to my spreadsheet of applications, but I also try to live in the moment as much as I can and enjoy my senior year. That means exploring new coffee shops and clothing stores, going to lots of sorority events, pretending like Tulane is a football school, and always keeping cookie dough and a bottle of wine on hand in case of a dinner party or game night. I have been checking things off my bucket list (going to a Saint’s game and spending a weekend in Baton Rouge!) but I still have many more “must-do’s” before I head out in May. I can’t wait to keep exploring the city and make the most of the rest of my year!