{"id":172456,"date":"2021-05-04T10:19:38","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T14:19:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=172456"},"modified":"2021-05-17T14:29:44","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T18:29:44","slug":"class-of-2021-clas-seniors-share-how-and-why-they-chose-their-major","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2021\/05\/class-of-2021-clas-seniors-share-how-and-why-they-chose-their-major\/","title":{"rendered":"Class of 2021: CLAS Seniors Share How and Why they Chose Their Major"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note: This is the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>third<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>in our annual College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Graduating Student Spotlight series. This year,\u00a0<\/i>students with a broad array of backgrounds and majors<\/i>\u00a0reflect on\u00a0<\/i>their college experience, remembering the good times and how the COVID-19 pandemic changed their senior year.\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Question:\u00a0<\/span><\/span>W<\/span><\/span>hy did you choose to study this major?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Chloe Murphy \u201921 (CLAS), BA<\/h3>\n

Major:<\/strong> Africana Studies
\nMinor:<\/strong> Sustainable Community Food Systems
\nHometown:<\/strong> New London, Connecticut<\/p>\n

Many adults I know who are deep into their careers aren’t in a field in which they got their undergraduate degree. I figured I should study something that is meaningful to me.<\/strong> I took Associate Professor of English Shawn Salvant’s Introduction to Africana Studies<\/em> course while in ACES my first semester, and by the end of my freshman year I declared an Africana studies major. Africana Studies has certainly given me a strong foundation in the field of history.<\/p>\n

In elementary school I was confused about myself as a student. I would go to the library and read historical fiction about different periods in the human past, and I enjoyed the specials about empires on the History channel. But my history lessons in school did not tell a story. Rather, they were a conglomerate of sterile facts which seemed disconnected from each other. In assistant professor in residence Alhaji Conteh’s Black Experience in the Americas class, a story was told. A story with a beginning, a middle, but not an end. That’s the best part about history \u2014 the stories never end. They are handed down to the next generation.<\/strong>
\n <\/p>\n

Mukund Desibhatla \u201921 (CLAS), BS<\/h3>\n
\"Mukund
Mukund Desibhatia ’21 (CLAS) in the Wilbur Cross Building on March 18, 2021. (Bri Diaz\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Majors:<\/strong> Physiology and Neurobiology and Spanish
\nMinor:<\/strong> European studies<\/p>\n

UConn\u2019s broad academic landscape and extensive Research I network really drew me in since freshman year. Especially having a strong interest in both core sciences and humanities, I decided on pursuing both physiology and neurobiology and Spanish upon matriculation. While I had initially intended for Spanish to be a minor, CLAS provided a clear and flexible pathway to take on a double major.<\/strong> There is no limit to the number of interests you can bring into fruition \u2014 I even added a European Studies minor my senior year!<\/p>\n

Next year, I will pursue my masters in public health in social and behavioral sciences with a concentration in U.S. Health and Justice at the Yale School of Public Health. At Yale, I hope to gain valuable perspectives and expertise in the subjects of healthcare disparities and social determinants of health, to become a better advocate for healthcare equity.
\n <\/p>\n

William Aleman \u201921 (CLAS), BA<\/h3>\n

Major:<\/strong> Economics
\nMinor:<\/strong> Data Analytics
\nHometown:<\/strong> New Haven, Connecticut<\/p>\n

Since I was 16, UConn had been my dream college to attend. I came in as an undeclared major, but when I took microeconomics (ECON 1201) my first semester, I was fascinated and ended up loving it. The course gave me the opportunity to think strategically and make decisions to optimize solutions. I also gained a good understanding of the interactions between individuals and firms – all of which aligned with my interests. I chose to pursue a degree in economics because it helped me gain strong numerical, analytical, and problem solving skills that would help me within my future career.<\/p>\n

Adding a minor in data analytics, I was exposed to computer programming languages such as Python, as well as SQL and SAS; all of which I profoundly enjoyed learning and using. I can confidently say UConn CLAS not only helped me find my passion, but also allowed me to branch out and develop critical skills in and out of my major.<\/strong> I always felt as if this school was the right fit for me.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

Victoria Sun \u201921 (CLAS), BA<\/h3>\n

Major:<\/strong> English
\nHometown:<\/strong> Flushing, Queens, New York and Norwich, Connecticut<\/p>\n

\"Victoria
Victoria Sun, an English major. Courtesy photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I love reading and discussing literature, so it made sense to pick a major that fit in with my interests. I wanted to study in a field that would allow me to further advance my skills in writing in both academic and creative pursuits.<\/p>\n

UConn has allowed me to make connections with people from different backgrounds and skillsets. I like to write about human experiences. It’s one of the defining factors that make a character relatable. Thanks to the variety of courses I’ve taken at UConn, I can incorporate all kinds of philosophies and perspectives that I never would have thought of before.<\/strong><\/p>\n

After I graduate, I plan on working on my novel. Creative writing has always been a passion for me and taking a creative writing course in my final semester has really revitalized my motivation to continue to do so.
\n <\/p>\n

Isaac V. Faustino\u2019 21 (CLAS), BS<\/h3>\n

Major:<\/strong> Molecular and Cell Biology<\/p>\n

\"Isaac
Isaac Faustino, a molecular and cell biology major with a minor in ecology and evolutionary biology. Courtesy photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Minor:<\/strong> Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
\nHometown:<\/strong> New Haven, CT<\/p>\n

I chose to study molecular and cell biology (MCB) because I knew that I wanted to study biology.<\/p>\n

After taking MCB courses my sophomore year, I\u2019ve always experienced a light bulb going off in my head when I started understanding the material during lectures and later during independent review. It was experiencing that kind of \u201ca-ha\u201d moment that made me realize that I wanted to major in MCB.<\/p>\n

I remember when first starting college, I had no idea what I was interested in pursuing and thought that I wouldn\u2019t be able to write my honors thesis as I didn\u2019t get involved with undergraduate research until junior year. Before deciding on a topic, I experienced plenty of self-doubt and internalized that I wouldn\u2019t be able to graduate in honors just because it seemed like everyone else were ahead in the game, while I was still exploring. Now that I\u2019ve finally completed writing my honors thesis, I see it as a piece of work that represents my resilience to graduate in honors and a testament to how everything works out in the end, as long you make small steps in the right direction.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Choosing what to study is a \u201cmajor\u201d decision. Several senior students share how they decided the paths they wanted to pursue. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":172457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2226],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2310],"class_list":["post-172456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clas"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-10 13:53:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172456"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173140,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172456\/revisions\/173140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/172457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172456"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=172456"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=172456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}