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Learning the skills to make it in graduate schools:
A compilation of four years of work at Bridgewater College
Elisabett Dattolo
Dr. Josefson
PSCI 470: Senior Seminar
Reflective Paper
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Learning the skills to make it in graduate schools:
A compilation of four years of work at Bridgewater College
Twenty years ago, my family and I moved to the United States of America. Nobody in my
family spoke or understood English, we only spoke Italian. The first few years were very tough
on us. It was worth it because each of my siblings and I have attended college and my parents
are owners of two different businesses. Attending college was a dream of mine since I first
understood what the word ‘college’ meant. I have always had a keen interest in pursuing my
studies as much and as far as I possibly could. The possibilities of where I could go were
endless, but when I moved to Bridgewater, Virginia eight years ago I fell in love with
Bridgewater College. Everyone whom I had talked to about Bridgewater College had always
given stellar reviews regarding the faculty and programs the school offered. When I first
entered Bridgewater College in the fall of 2012, I knew I wanted to pursue my studies in the
Spanish language but that was not enough for me. I also wanted to major in something along
the lines of international affairs. Choosing to major in Spanish was an easy choice for me
because I had taken Spanish courses in high school and I had fallen in love with the language
and diverse Hispanic cultures. Walking through Flory, I came across a bulletin board that listed
all the majors underneath History and Political Science. When I read the description for what
was then known as international studies, it clicked that that was what I wanted to major in as
well. Politics and world affairs have always interested me, I was always curious of what was
occurring in the world. Since then, I have chosen classes that further my love for linguistics and
international affairs. Now that I am getting closer to graduating from Bridgewater College, I
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want to attend a graduate school that will stretch my abilities and prepare me for life after
school.
Choosing majors that are fall under the Bachelor of Arts categories requires you
to take certain general education classes. Course such as communications 100 and English 110
helped me to become a more eloquent speaker and writer. Each of the general education
courses teaches you basic knowledge in a certain subject matter. As the years have progressed,
my presentations and essays have also become better. For communications, the first speech I
gave was a persuasive speech about teaching children a second language when they are
younger [see persuasive speech]. When I gave this speech, I made direct eye contact with my
audience and I tried to look down on my paper as only a reminder of where I was supposed to
go with my speech. Learning the proper way to communicate a speech or presentation properly
have and has helped me to be a better presenter. Oral communications helped me to be
observant of all of little details when you are presenting to a group of people. In my English 110
class, I read two books titled, Little Princes and First They Killed My Father, which really engaged
me in the international affairs that occurred in the world. The papers I wrote [see Child
trafficking & First they killed my father] grabbed my interests in what was occurring throughout
the world. Subtly, this paper and class pushed me to become global studies major.
Some more general education classes I took were Wellness, New Testament and
Biology. While each of these courses can be grouped separately, they all were able to teach me
something about the subject that I previously did not know. In biology, we were to do labs and
learn about the study of living organism; what nutrients they need, preferable living conditions
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and other things. Every week we had to do labs like [See algae lab] and we learned how to work
on excel spreadsheets. Wellness went along with my biology class because we were able to
study our own, individuals lifestyle patterns and behaviors. In the beginning of class, we set a
goal for ourselves in what we wanted to improve. It could have been sleeping habits, food
habits, exercising more among other things. Once you picked a goal, you had a group and you
met once a week to speak about how you were doing. It was therapeutic in a way because you
were able to see your progress but also struggles.
Wellness was taking care of oneself in all ways. I attended the Sandy Hook convocation,
in which Scarlett Lewis, the mother of Jesse Lewis who was a victim of the Sandy Hook Shooting
spoke. She talked about the struggles of coming to cope with this tragedy but also about how
her life has been forever altered. The Jesse Lewis Choose Love Foundation, was created by his
mother in honor of Jesse and to promote peace. His mother is trying to create positivity out of a
horrendous situation and this promoted wellness. Ms. Lewis also wrote a book about
forgiveness, which we sometimes need to do in order to live a healthy life and find out inner
balance and peace within ourselves.
Finally New Testament and Political Philosophy coincided with all classes I have taken
because it taught us the start of the Christian religion which can be incorporated with the
creation of a new life. In New Testament, we had to write an exegesis about our interpretation
of a certain biblical passage (See exegesis paper). Political Philosophy also assisted in helping
me think outside the box. We studied philosophers and different schools of thought. Each
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philosopher had perceived their world differently, but they would also build upon each other
which is how we can all grow as a society and become better members of the world.
One of the first classes that I took at Bridgewater College was a world history
course that was preparing me for my future classes in my major. It spanned from early recorded
human activity to about 1500AD. The course was intriguing because it made me understand the
fundamentals of our governing bodies and how borders started. History to 1500AD made me
want to learn as much as possible about the shaping of our world because modern day society
is always changing. Developed countries have a different society than developing countries and
that influences a lot in the government and a person’s way of life in that country. The formation
of country influences how that country is today, for example some Middle Eastern countries
combine religion and government as you can see in this paper I wrote [The Crisis of Islam] This
class taught me the fundamental workings of the first government bodies like those of the
Greeks and the Romans. My first official class in my Global Studies major was comparative
politics. This class coincided with my history class for the reason that it gave me the knowledge
of political systems that are currently used throughout the world. I was able to learn about the
different governing bodies that are used globally. What would work in one part of the world
does not always work in another part of the world. Each region of the world is different and has
their own systems of how to do things. Western society idealizes a democracy and equality
among all human beings. Throughout the rest of the world, they favor other types of
government systems like communism. How and why each country chooses to emphasize an
ideology has a lot to do with their style of government as you can see in my [Freedom &
Democracy]It had solidified my choice in what I wanted to study for the next few years.
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Each class that I chose, I made sure that it pertained to what I wanted to do for the rest
of my life. I wanted to have classes that were engaging and challenging, but also stretched my
abilities to comprehend why and how societies around the world engage with themselves and
each other. One of the most intriguing classes I have taken was an intro to global politics
course. During a class towards the beginning of the semester, Dr. Frueh, our professor, was
lecturing about borders and he said something along the lines of “are borders keeping citizens
in or keeping other humans out?” I am paraphrasing, of course but that one lecture has always
stayed in my mind. I had never thought about borders in a negative way and it drastically
changed my thinking about what borders meant. Borders along a country influence not only the
governing bodies in that area but also the people that live inside and outside of the borders.
That one class changed my viewpoint and guided me in my studies. When I read about
displaced persons or immigration policies I always think back to this class. Borders mean so
many different things to people and we have to figure out a solution that helps the majority of
people. In today’s rapidly globalizing world, there is a lot of emphasis on free market trading
and allowing goods to be transferable across the globe as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Interestingly enough, governments all over the world are not as keen on that idea when it
comes to human beings. There are lots of restrictions on people being able to move to a
different country, and often times, there are wars that force people to move and become
refugees or internally displaced persons. We can currently see this problem with the Syrian
refuges and trying to find a home for them; it is very difficult and met with some resistance
from certain countries.
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With my history and global studies classes, I also took Spanish classes. Each Spanish
course I have taken has helped me to improve my acquisition of the Spanish language while
also comprehending more of the Spanish culture and heritage. The classes at Bridgewater have
all catered to my progress in understand and comprehending the Spanish language, history,
government and culture. Starting with my Spanish 201 and 202 classes in my freshman year at
Bridgewater, I was able to acquire and better my Spanish speaking abilities. Being able to speak
and comprehend another language is a skill that is valuable in every aspect of life. You can
reach a broader audience and be able to converse with more people. Spanish translation
helped me to figure out what the best way to translate a document. For example, I was able to
translate Skyline Literacy’s English brochure to Spanish [brochure] which allowed Skyline
Literacy to be able to reach and help more people. I also was able to translate a Spanish
literature to English text with [Jorge Luis Borges’ Los Dos Reyes y Los Dos Laberintos]There are a
lot of different ways that you can do that and being able to keep the syntax and meaning of a
document that needs to be translated is very important. Taking the language courses has
greatly improved my acquisition of the language. I can converse with more people then I
previously could have and we can have proper conversations with each other.
Culture and civilization classes have all helped me to understand the reasons behind a
countries government system or why people dress a certain way. Wars have created new
territories and have caused countries to either gain or lose territory which also causes a change
in the people. By change in the people, I mean that there could be new groups of people added
to another country. Spanish culture and civilization allowed me to understand the history
behind Spain, for example, the Romans ruled differently than the Muslims who ruled differently
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than the Catholic kings. History changes and shapes people no matter how far back it was. My
Latin American Culture and Civilization did the same thing as my Spanish Culture and
Civilization class. Latin American Politics made me comprehend the governmental workings of
Latin American countries. Separately, these countries have had to deal with issues within
themselves. The treatment of individuals also varies in each society. For example, women in
Mexico are still not considered to be men’s equal. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, a famous
seventeenth century nun and scholar was also facing inequality and discrimination which can
be seen in her writings like Hombre Necios which I also wrote a paper on [Reaction paper #1].
With Latin American cultures being predominantly Roman Catholic in religion, the progression
and acceptance of all types of people like homosexuals is still being worked on. By writing a
paper on [homosexuality in Latin America] I was able to much about how much influence
religion has on certain areas of the continent. It is not only religion that influences the
acceptance of all people, but also colonization history, among more factors. Currently, I am still
taking different types of Spanish courses that are deepening my comprehension of the
language and culture.
When I would start a new semester at Bridgewater College, I was able to guarantee my
comprehension of the world would be better than when I started it. Classes offered like United
Nations and Civil Rights and Liberties, they made me want to be able to do my part in society by
trying to be able to help improve the world. The United Nations class is what propelled me to
further my research in international affairs because it is an organization that is trying to
improve the world. I want to be able to be a part of that. Assisting in the various programs the
United Nations has would be a dream. I learned about the Human Rights that were signed in
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1946 and also the millennium development goals. During my United Nations class, we took a
trip to New York City to visit the United Nations buildings. On the second day, we actually saw a
protest against the Vietnamese government by Vietnamese people. The protesters had signs
and were giving out two dollar bills that were stapled onto a yellow piece of paper that had
“January 19, 1974 Paracel Island March 14 1988 Spratly Island CHINA (the word was covered in
the color red) Stop Invading Vietnam!” and on the back“92 million Vietnamese people need
justice from the world. UN is the father of all nations.” It was very interesting to be a witness to
this and see the passion and hope these protesters had. Being able to study the United Nations
was fascinating because they have so many different programs like [Schools for Africa] which I
wrote on and learned about all different types of companies that help to benefit education in
African nations. With the help of the Civil Rights and liberties class, I can apply what I believe is
best in a legal manner. In class we were able to write a [letter to the editor] for why an
amendment should change.
Overall, each class that I have taken at Bridgewater College has made me want to learn
more about the affairs of each country. There is a distinct culture in each country you visit the
world and there is always a reason explain why that country acts in that way. Learning more
about a countries government, culture or language keeps me intrigued and fascinated.
Graduate school is something that I want to do. It has always been a goal of mine to further my
education and be a contributor to society. Being able to help my community and the world
around us would be my dream. I would just like to be as knowledgeable as possible in applying
various techniques and diplomacy methods in trying to help better the world. For instance,
things like education and clean drinking water should not be a privilege in the twenty-first
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century, it should be a right. I want to be a part of something that will make the world a better
place for people everywhere; that each human being has the same opportunities to better
themselves. The University of Virginias master’s program in International Relations will help me
to achieve this goal. To attend the University of Virginia’s Grad School program they require: at
least a GPA of 3.2 or above, a Statement of Purpose, Letters of Recommendations, a Graduate
Record Examinations (with a minimum score), and other factors. It is a very rigorous program to
try and get into. The University is very elite and wants the most elite students to study there.
As with University of Virginia’s requirements and graduate school program, James
Madison University in the Shenandoah Valley also has a rigorous program as well. They offer a
Graduate program in Public Administration where you could also choose a concentration. There
are a few requirements that are standard for all graduate programs. James Madison University
requires: a Statement of Purpose, a Professional Resume, an official GRE test score, and the
actual application. They also require a student to have completed a statistics class and an
American Government class. Pennsylvania State University also offers a Graduate program in
Political Science where I would be able to specialize in International Politics. As with the
previous two graduate school programs, Pennsylvania State University has similar requirements
to James Madison University and University of Virginia in entering a graduate school program.
Something that is different for each school is when the requirement for applying is. At James
Madison University, for example, you can apply up to six weeks before the program is to begin.
With each of these schools, their main focus is to be able to make the student excel and
be a better contributor to society. Our worlds are increasingly becoming more cross-cultural
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with the help of globalization. With the help of globalization, we are able to better ourselves
and the world around us much more efficiently than ever before. After graduate school, when
you start your career a lot is expected of each students. You will have to deal with tasks that are
new and tricky and be able to find a solution that works efficiently. Hopefully, something that
you have learned in one of you college classes will help you to find that solution. Graduate
Programs are difficult to be able to attend because they require a lot out of a student. They
want a person that will be malleable and open to learning new things about the world. All of
this is very important for us as a society as we are continuously becoming more globalized.
Every country is trying to better itself and its people. We are living in the twenty-first century
and access to the outside world from your country should not be restricted. Also, with
everyone traveling across the world we are constantly traveling and becoming more diversified.
We have to be able to adapt to the changing circumstances around the world. Being a
Bridgewater College student has allowed me to already understand more about the world then
I previously did. Each class that I have and will take has prepared me for my future.
Not only can I go to schools for my international relations, I can also go to grad school
and pursue a further degree in Spanish. At James Madison University they have a program for
Spanish Language and Cultures for Education. This program interests me very much because
there is so much that could be done with it. I would have to study abroad for a summer, where I
would be living on JMUs campus over in Spain. Over there, I would be immersed with the
culture and be able to fully integrate myself. My Spanish linguistic skills would broaden
immensely. I have considered this program very thoughtfully and I believe I would excel in it.
Overall the program is online, on campus and study abroad. JMU is close to my home so I would
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be able to maintain a job while still attending school. This job could be related to translation
work or working with the Hispanic community. The requirements to get into this program at
James Madison University are similar to its other master’s degrees program. Georgetown
University also offers a Spanish graduate degree in either Spanish Literature and Cultural
Studies or Spanish Linguistics. I would pursue my masters in Spanish Linguistics, where again,
my vocabulary would expand and it be perfected. At Georgetown University, they require you
application and transcripts, among other things, but they also want proof of English language
proficiency. This could be a bachelor’s degree or official Test of English as a Foreign Language. It
is a rigorous program, but it would be a wonderful learning experience where the Spanish language is
vastly improved.