Honors student reflections: My sophomore year at UMass Amherst

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After taking some time to reflect on my sophomore year at UMass Amherst, I realized that this was the year I found myself, not only personally, but academically and professionally. Through nearly all of my schooling, I was never able to feel passionate about what I was studying, until this year. In my first year at UMass, I entered as a political science major, but ultimately realized it was not for me. With some much-needed exploration, I declared psychology and journalism as my majors — and since then have been able to discover what I love.

When I was a first-year student, I was fortunate enough to have taken my first-year seminar with Razvan Sibii, who taught the class Front Page — my first introduction to the field of journalism. It was at this point that I fell in love with the major. Then, I began taking journalism classes that focused on the major’s public relations (PR) concentration, and I ultimately decided that PR is what I want to pursue moving forward in my professional career.

Although public relations is what I intend to do for my career, my primary major is psychology, simply because I love the content and the way it is taught at UMass. Studying psychology here has given me the opportunity to meet some incredibly distinguished professors and peers. I am fortunate enough to have found some of my best friends in this major and we often find ourselves sitting in the lobby of our residence hall, late at night, talking about what we had learned that day in class.

Community Engagement and Service Learning

However, this reflection on my academic career would not be complete without mentioning what has been the most meaningful aspect of my university experience—The Community Engagement and Service Learning (CESL) program. CESL offers Honors students the opportunity to participate in the Community Scholars Program (CSP), which is a two-year academic community engagement and leadership program that works in collaboration with community organizations to advocate for a more just world.

CSP has introduced me to some of the kindest, driven, and most open-minded people I will likely encounter in my lifetime.

The coursework for this program has also challenged me to think critically in ways I had never before. My professor, Deborah Keisch, works tirelessly to present us with material that breaks away from the classic academic mold. In this class, not only do we learn, but we also dream and envision a better, more equitable future, which, to me, is what the Honors College stands for. After my first year with this program, I can confidently say that CHC is committed to inspiring students not to just learn for themselves, but to learn for the sake of our futures.

CSP also singlehandedly connected me with my internship — which I will continue to work with for the rest of my time here. As mentioned earlier, CSP works in conjunction with local community organizations, so I was paired with the Springfield Dementia Friendly Coalition and have found my perfect fit. While my work with CSP is entirely unrelated to public relations, my internship was in search of a public relations intern. Not only does my PR work align perfectly with the needs of the internship, but so does my passion for psychology and mental health. Working with the Springfield Dementia Friendly Coalition opened my eyes to a new field of mental health that I had not previously been exposed to.

Now that I have spent this time reflecting on my sophomore year at UMass, I realized just how great of a time I had and that somehow, in the blink of an eye, I am already halfway through college. I am more than excited to keep moving forward in my academic career, but I could not be more grateful for how this year was for me.