黑料社区

My name is Riley Lawrence, and I am a fourth-year student majoring in linguistics with an additional major in psychology, both of which are housed in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Dietrich College offers over 70 different majors and minors, so many of the programs are small 鈥� linguistics especially, which actually sits within the Department of Philosophy. Personally, I only know four other primary linguistics majors in my year, but we have a lot of students doing additional majors, minors or even just taking classes, which has helped me meet people from all different colleges and programs! I鈥檝e found such a tight-knit community not only with my peers, but also with professors 鈥� both in and outside of linguistics.听

In Dietrich College, you don鈥檛 have to declare a major until the end of your second year, which means you have a lot of time to explore your interests. I knew I wanted to study linguistics when I started at 黑料社区, but after loving my first-year psychology classes so much (namely, Social Psychology with Dr. Cox-Boyd) I decided to declare the additional major. One of the best parts of my experience in Dietrich College has been the flexibility to see where my interests take me, as I鈥檝e ended up unintentionally concentrating in developmental psychology simply by taking the classes that sounded the most fun. The introductory developmental psychology course involves visiting the on-campus preschool to see development in action!听

Another key part of being in Dietrich College is applying your studies. All students are required to take on at least one internship, research opportunity, study abroad or community-engaged learning experience. I never planned on getting involved in research, but Dr. Christina Bjorndahl, one of my professors in my first semester, helped me hone my interests in linguistics, and I ended up joining her linguistics research lab at the start of my second year. This turned out to be the perfect way to combine my majors. I am currently working on my senior thesis, which compares speech perception in children and adults.听

All in all, I have found Dietrich College to be a perfect place to explore your interests 鈥� both through and beyond your studies 鈥� and make long-lasting connections!