Senior Feature: Sarah McLaughlin ’23
Welcome to a special, end-of-the-semester Senior Feature interview with Sarah McLaughlin ‘23!
Sarah is a double major in both Political Science and English (Creative Writing) from Bridgewater, MA. Following her graduation in a few weeks, Sarah would like to pursue a career in writing communications or journalism.
Why did you choose a political science major here at PC?
“I was really interested in studying international relations and learning about different countries, learning about politics across the globe and doing some comparative work between countries. That’s been my main interest with political science. But I also do really like political theory and philosophy and things like that.”
How do you think your experience in the PC Political Science Department has shaped you into who you are today? Do you think what you’ve learned will help you in your future endeavors?
“The best experience that I’ve had so far in the department is writing my thesis this year and doing that independent work. I’ve really appreciated the opportunity to take on an independent project and I think it’s made me more organized and better at managing my time. Taking on a really large year-long project as well is something that I feel really proud of and it’s given me a little more confidence with presenting. So I think that it’s given me just kind of those general skills and confidence, especially doing a thesis. But the classes have been super fun and engaging as well.”
Are there any professors/classes you feel have made a particular difference in your PC PoliSci experience?
I definitely really enjoyed Father Brophy’s political theory classes. I took a couple of classes with him and he always is super engaging in getting students interested in reading the material and talking about it. It’s like some of the few classes I’ve had where everybody’s actually talking the whole time. And also I really enjoyed Dr. Cameron’s elections class. It was super fun during the election season to talk about that. And also I really enjoyed Dr. Cammarano’s elections class. It was super fun during the election season to talk about that. And then I really enjoyed some of the other international classes like Dr. Zencrici’s Middle East Politics class and Dr. Stevens’ International Conflict Resolution class.”
Anything else you would like to mention?
“I’m glad I was able to pick so many electives that were really interesting to me in PoliSci that made it worthwhile. Going in, I feel like people just assume everyone’s just going to law school, but in reality, there are so many different things you can do with PoliSci- it’s not all just talking about the law or American politics.”
