Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences celebrates the class of 2023! To commemorate their upcoming graduation, we’ve connected with a few seniors about their time at Weinberg College and future plans. Laurisa Sastoque will be graduating in June with majors in English and History and a Data Science minor.
What did you study at Weinberg College and why? If applicable, please explain if your interests transformed or evolved during your time here.
When I first got to Northwestern, I was confident that I wanted to study Creative Writing, but I also knew I wanted a second major that would complement my career aspirations. At first, I embarked on a Chemistry and Creative Writing double major. However, I quickly realized that a second major in the Humanities would better complement my interest in writing and social issues. I thought about philosophy, sociology, and anthropology, but finally settled on history thanks to the Kaplan Humanities Scholars Program, which introduced me to a wide variety of subjects and fields. As I took distribution courses in computer science and statistics, I wanted to further explore the quantitative side of my brain, so I added a data science minor. As I near the finish line for these courses, I am very glad about my selection and the guidance that advisors and professors provided me in my exploration.
Tell us a little bit about your interdisciplinary experience at Weinberg College. How did it prepare you for the future?
The availability of interdisciplinary experiences has been one of the best aspects about studying at Weinberg College. Through my different majors and my distribution requirements, I was able to earn a variety of skills in reading, writing, and communications, but also in computer programming and multimedia design. This wide breadth of skills was key at moments when I was interviewing for internships or jobs. In the summer of 2022 I received a grant from SIGP (Summer Internship Grant Program) to pursue an internship with Mikesell Digital Consulting, a marketing agency in Chicago. During my interview, what caught my supervisor’s attention was my joint ability to create clean and informative data visualizations and to create compelling videos and graphics. These skills maximized the value of my contributions to the agency during my internship. As I move on with my graduate work, I will continue to combine my passions for storytelling, data, and media in my personal projects.
Do you have a favorite or transformative Weinberg College course you took? Or a professor that taught you?
A transformative Weinberg College course that I took was American Immigration with Professor Shana Bernstein for my History major. This was the course that really taught me how to write a history paper, and that rigorously compelled me to think deeply about my arguments and the organization of my topic sentences. I came into this course not feeling confident about my ability to write a compelling historical argument, and came out of it with a toolset that prepared me for further coursework in history. I thank this course for paving my way to working at the Writing Place, where I help other students at Northwestern improve their writing, and for leading me to write a Senior Thesis in history this year.
What advice would you give to future students?
I think one of the most valuable things that I did at Weinberg College was taking risks. Getting involved in activities that I had never tried before, daring to take intimidating courses, picking distros that weren’t necessarily easy but would promote my learning, etc. There is so much opportunity in Weinberg College and at Northwestern to get involved in research, extracurriculars, and all kinds of hobbies, and I think that is what makes these spaces so unique. If I were to give one piece of more concrete advice it would be read your emails. Throughout your Northwestern experience, you are likely to get a bunch of newsletters and departmental messages that will advertise events, opportunities, calls for applications. My advice is to take the time and sign up for that talk, apply for that fellowship, because you never know what may come out of it, and what new things you will learn about yourself in the process.
What are your plans after you graduate?
After I graduate, I will spend the summer in Evanston working for Student Affairs Marketing. Then, in September, I will fly off to Cambridge, United Kingdom, where I will be pursuing an MPhil in Digital Humanities at Cambridge University. I was very fortunate to be awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, which supports the full cost of my graduate program, and will allow me to create a digital multimedia exhibition based on my History senior thesis about Colombian Immigration to the United States and the War on Drugs as my dissertation project.