Student Profiles

Triple Major Takes Advantage of UMass Amherst Opportunities

“My academic career at UMass Amherst has been busy,” says Sam Litton ’08, who is pursuing a triple major in legal studies, political science and philosophy. “I love to learn and want to increase my ability to think and get as broad an intellectual background as I can.” Apart from Litton’s interest in his majors’ subject areas, he believes that the disciplines are complimentary. “Together they provide understanding of government and legal processes as well as a view of western intellectual history. That’s important for me since I plan to gain an advanced degree, probably in law.”

Litton, who is a Dean’s List student at Commonwealth College, would really like to do public advocacy work, something like environmental or civil rights law. “I think it would be great to spend my life doing something I enjoy and making a difference, as cliché as that sounds,” he says. “I’m not sure though that I’ll want to stop studying political science. Or philosophy. I may decide not to choose between the three. Many universities offer PhD/JD and MA/JD programs. I’m purposefully keeping my plans vague right now. Too much planning this early on could cause me to miss some amazing chance. At twenty, the two years until graduation are a long time.”

In the meantime, Litton is heading off for a summer seminar at Oxford University in England, with the help of an Ansin Study Abroad Fellowship and a scholarship from Commonwealth College. “These scholarships mean simply that I can go. The program is expensive, as is the airfare, and when you add in some spending money it will cost almost $8,000. Without these funds, I’d be at home this summer. Since I want to learn and experience as much as I can in my undergraduate years, the seminar will be amazing. UMass Amherst doesn’t offer the courses I’m taking, and I’ll have a chance to learn from an English perspective, from an entirely different faculty. Plus, I look forward to experiencing a different country and a different culture as a student, rather than a tourist. All of this will add to my intellectual foundation.” The summer seminar, Litton says, will also help him reduce some of the challenges brought on by triple majoring, in terms of workload and scheduling. “Since the seminar will fulfill some credit requirements, I’ll get a little space in my daily program once I’m back on campus.”

When Litton was looking at colleges his focus was not quite as clear. “In high school I moved around a lot,” he says. “I covered three schools in three states in four years. Moving and dealing with different ways of grading, testing, scheduling and different curricula, I learned to adapt and became more confident. For example, I had to look at a whole new group of students and figure out how I compared, where I fit in academically. After the second move I realized that while the curriculum might be different, I was still smart enough to jump right in.” Even so, when it came time to select a college, Litton didn’t know what he wanted to study, so a place with many options was considered a plus. “UMass Amherst has that,” Litton says. “It also has other large school resources: grants, newer facilities, a large faculty. And it is well ranked academically, which is always nice.”

Now that he’s experienced campus life for two years, Litton doesn’t regret his choice. “There are a huge number of interesting programs available, but my experience has been that they’re often ‘unadvertised.’ If you take an active role in your education and look for challenging and enriching opportunities, you’ll definitely get the most out of your education.” And that is exactly what Litton has done. He has already been selected to participate in the Legal Studies Department Internship with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination next summer, yet another learning opportunity that will add to his growing resume.

July 6, 2006