Major: History
Hometown: Newport, RI
Q. What makes the College of Arts and Sciences at URI unique?
A. I am highly impressed by the professors who I have been taught by within the College of Arts and Sciences at URI. Across the departments I have taken classes in, such as history, philosophy and physics, I have encountered highly intelligent, accomplished, warm and encouraging professors who are great at teaching. I deeply appreciate the thoughtfulness they put into helping me learn and for pushing me to take my writing to the next level. Not every university has so many awesome professors in several different departments, so I am grateful for the time I spent with them at URI.
What accomplishments and/or activities at URI are you most proud of now?
I am proud that I have achieved the GPA I wanted when I began my studies at URI. Also, I recently received a medal for outstanding achievement in history among some other honors from the Department of History, which were lovely surprises. Lastly, I have a radio show at WRIU on Fridays from 2 – 3pm that I am proud of! I love sharing and introducing the music I like with people, which is mostly R&B and soul, and it feels great when listeners call in to tell me they like what they are hearing!
What research projects, internships, experiential learning, and/or study abroad programs did you participate in at URI? How did they enhance your education?
I am currently working on a research project, my senior thesis in history, which is the by far the longest and most challenging paper I have ever written. It has been great so far despite some of the difficulties and I am excited to see the final product. The research process has taught me that black and white answers are not the only acceptable answers, and sometimes a shade of gray is the right answer. This project has also enhanced my education in that it is essentially like writing an academic paper that could be found in a published history journal. I appreciate that the history capstone allows students to dive deeper and experience the work that professional historians do.
What do you value about your liberal arts education?
I like that my liberal arts education has honed my critical thinking, reading, writing, and argument-forming skills. My history professors always stressed the importance of reading between the lines and being highly critical of the author’s intentions behind writing something, which is a transferable skill to many areas of life. Studying history has taught me tons of cool things about different parts of the world and it has definitely enhanced my knowledge of other cultures and the struggles of people in different time periods and places. Also, I like that my study of history has given context to social issues in the modern world, which was one of the main reasons why I decided to major in it. This world is a crazy place for so many reasons and it is important to understand how we got to this point!