When I came to DePauw, I was dead set on majoring in Political Science and going to law school. As such, I had no interest in becoming a Media Fellow. Little did I know, I would fall in love with journalism.
Sure, there is lateral entry to the programs of distinction, but after the hit my GPA took first semester freshman year, I was sure that I would not have been accepted into the program.
I spent my summer interning for The Salt Lake Tribune. I had an amazing experience, and I now know, without a shadow of a doubt that when I "grow up," I want to become a journalist.
Even though I am not a Media Fellow, I want to spend a semester off campus to complete a longer internship. Spending three times as long as a summer internship at a newspaper can help me perfect my craft. Not only would this help me become a better journalist, but it would help me find a job in a highly competitive market.
I didn't know the process for setting up a semester-long internship. Do you set up the internship first? Do you get approval from the school before you even begin choosing an internship? While I was more than capable of looking for internships and applying for them, I didn't know the steps necessary, and I sought help from the walk-in advising at the Hubbard Center for Student Engagement.
I ended up meeting with a man who had only been there for two weeks. I understand that he may not be able to answer every question, but what he did wasn't helpful in the slightest.
He proceeded to read to me verbatim from the DePauw website about internships. I couldn't help but think, "If I could find it on the website, do you really think I would be sitting here?"
I personally found it insulting and demeaning that the material was read to me. The website explains the basics, and if I was not capable of reading it on my own, then I, quite frankly, have no business being at DePauw.
I patiently sat there hoping that there would be something useful, hoping that maybe this was what he started with and then he would go deeper into specifics.
And yet, after relaying the information on the website to me, my questions were still left unanswered. Rather than having one of the other walk-in advisors, who at the time were doing nothing, try to help me, I was sent away with the advice of "email the woman in charge of internships."
I'm sure that there are probably walk-in advisors that are helpful. I just didn't get one that was, and I walked away not only with my questions left unanswered but feeling like it was a complete waste of my time.
My biggest issue with the whole ordeal is that large sums of money have been donated to the Hubbard Center. While the offices will look different by the time I graduate, even though this is not the goal of the donors, I can't help but wonder if the programming will remain the same.
Even larger sums of money have been donated to building a new dining hall, renovating the fitness center and making campus look aesthetically appealing. While these things are nice, I didn't choose DePauw because they promised a pretty campus with new buildings.
I chose DePauw because I believed that a liberal arts education would prepare me for my goals and let me discover what I wanted to do. I believed that because of DePauw, I would be able to find a job upon graduation. I believed that, at DePauw, I would be limited only by the size of my dreams, yet sadly, because of the engagement programming as I have experienced it, hasn't been the launching pad I hoped it to be.
- Decriscio is a sophomore from Zionsville, Ind. majoring in philosophy.