Research can be for the humanities too!

When I was applying to College, virtually every school I looked into discussed how involved their students were in research. I just assumed this could never apply to me, since STEM wasn’t really my thing in high school and the only research I could imagine took place with goggles and lab coats. Fortunately, I have a super supportive academic advisor who recommended I apply to the Fox Leadership Program for the summer, a fellowship that places students in stipended public policy and nonprofit internships. Thanks to the program, I was able to pursue my pre-law interests by doing research on educational neglect and child abuse for CHILD USA, the leading think tank for children’s civil rights. This experience taught me that research can mean so many different things and is applicable in every discipline, and I learned valuable tools for navigating academic journals, legal case law, and turning numerical studies into prose. There are also countless ways to approach research, so it is easy to choose subjects that highlight your individual skills and interests. With the confidence that I could do research (and had in fact been doing it all along), I decided to pursue a second major in Criminology, which combines my interest in public policy with data-driven analyses that examine trends and seek to improve the criminal justice system. I would tell any freshman who is intimidated by the idea of “research” that Penn has so many different opportunities in every single field and discipline, so everyone can find something that works for them. It can be as simple as approaching a professor or TA after class whose work you admire or doing a deep dive on the Center for Undergraduate Research (CURF) website to get started!

- Sami H.