This section outlines my collegiate experience and the way that I created my Interdisciplinary Studies degree.
I began my collegiate experience at Louisiana State University in the Fall of 2013. I started out my collegiate career as a Music major. While I loved music, I became more interested in mental health advocacy, so I changed my major to Social Work in the Spring of 2014. After my freshman year, I decided to explore religious studies, so I moved to rural northwest Alabama to attend the Ramp School. During my two years there, I studied music and community outreach. I had many opportunities to direct bands, write music, lead community outreaches in the low-income housing area, and work in registration for conference events. As my worldview began to shift toward the end of my time there, I decided to go back to LSU upon graduation. I planned to move back to Baton Rouge, LA, with my grandmother on the day of the 2016 flood. Obviously, I was not able to get into South Louisiana. My family's house flooded and so did my grandmother's. I moved back as soon as I was able to but spent the entire Fall 2016 semester living with a friend's family. The Fall of 2016 was a difficult semester of adjustment. I was a Psychology major, I was helping my family rebuild, I was in a sorority, I took on on 21 credit hours to catch up, etc. I decided after that semester that there was no need to rush my collegiate experience simply because I had taken two years out, so I cut back my hours the next semester and started to really enjoy my studies. This is when I became what I now identify as: an academic. I love to learn and research, and I can never pick a favorite subject. This led to another major switch in the Fall of 2017: English. I found a new interest academically, and I ran with it. I finally realized in the Spring of 2018 that I was a "jack of many trades." Only, this did not turn me into a "master of none." I decided to put three of my previous majors together into an Interdisciplinary Studies degree: Psychology, Music, and the Linguistics branch of English. I enjoyed mixing them together in various research projects and having to consult professors from different departments to complete the projects with success. I thoroughly enjoyed my academic experience and would not have it any other way. I graduated on August 2, 2019, and I cannot wait to jump into my career, drawing on my diverse academic background.
In my Psychology minor, I combined courses in both cognitive and biological psychology with courses on research methods. I learned statistical analyses and became very interested in mathematics, which got me my job in the LSU Math Lab. It is because of this minor that I learned how to do experimental research and fell in love with it. Attached are several documents from various courses I took in this minor.
In my Music Minor, I developed my vocal, piano, and performance skills. Attached are two choral performance videos from my time in Schola Cantorum.
In my English minor, I learned how to effectively write, which has helped me in every other course and taught me how to effectively communicate. I have read some wonderful pieces of literature, but my favorite by far was Giovanni's Room (seriously, go read it!).