Becca Smollen

Purdue Student Interview

1.) Student’s name, academic major, year at Purdue, and email address.

a. I interviewed Stephanie Walsh, a junior at Purdue double majoring in Political

Science and Psychology.

2.) Why did you choose this major? Describe the process by which you decided on it.

a. Stephanie was very political in high school, but actually started at Purdue as a

biology major before deciding that that particular career path wasn’t for her. She

decided to revisit political science as a major and added psychology onto that.

3.) What are typical major classes like in terms of content, format, and instructor’s style of

teaching?

a. The classes in this major are mostly a mix of lecture and discussion. Since

Stephanie’s concentration in political science is international relations, she takes a

lot of policy classes relating to that. Some examples classes are Peace Studies,

Nuclear Proliferation, Modern Weapons, and Social Psychology.

4.) What has been your favorite class? What did you learn, and why was it your favorite?

a. Stephanie was a big fan of POL 120 and POL 130 as they were straight-forward

yet interesting to learn about and thought-provoking. She also very much enjoyed

her class on Modern Weapons.

5.) Which classes have been the toughest? What made them tough?

a. Her most difficult class has been Nuclear Proliferation as it is more theory than

quantitative data, a running theme in a lot of policy classes. However, she assures

me that it is nothing too difficult that one can’t adjust to.

6.) What skills and abilities do students need in order to be successful in this major? Why?

a. Students need to be able to write as there are a lot of papers. Stephanie also

suggests that being proficient in presenting/communication and statistical

programming will help when pursuing this major.

7.) What are you planning to do after graduation?

a. Stephanie is hoping to attend graduate school in a doctoral program and work on

research for politics and political psychology. Eventually she hopes to teach at the

college level.

8.) What extra-curricular opportunities related to the major have you experienced, or can you

recommend?

a. Stephanie highly suggests that people get really involved in research opportunities

as they can be beneficial for both learning experience and networking.

9.) Do you think more people should pursue a double major with liberal arts and HHS (or

other)?

a. Absolutely, having the background in liberal arts with another major opens so

many more doors and makes you a much more well-rounded student and future

employee.