My name is Monica Torres and I'm from
Winter Springs, Florida. I think I chose
my major probably before I came to Notre
Dame. I've just always been interested in
politics so I thought I'd like to pursue
that and once I started taking classes I
realized that I was right! The thing that
I like the most about political science
is to be able to analyze things that are
going on in our world right now and that
are really relevant to our lives and
what's gonna happen in future
generations. In political science I've
concentrated a lot on the Middle East
and North Africa so this summer I'm
planning to go to Jordan to study Arabic.
I think it'll be really interesting to
be in the Middle East and get to meet
people, live with a host family, and
really see how people think there, how
people live. This semester I am taking a class called NGOs and International Relations.
We're looking at nongovernmental organizations and how they have come to be a really
major actor in international relations.
Because they really have a significant
influence on States.
The political science major is not entirely what I expected.
There's a lot that you can go
into with theory and really analyzing a
text, going back even to Aristotle who
wrote extensively about politics. It's a
really well-rounded major and I really
like all the different aspects of it.
Last summer I did an internship with
Social Entrepreneur Core in Ecuador.
We got to travel all over the country.
We are working with MicroConsignment so,
basically, ways to solve poverty through
business. You hear a lot about different
models for solutions to poverty and I
don't think anyone can really fully
understand one until they work with it
and you realize that there's so many
different pros and cons that you never
would have thought of until you apply
yourself to the specific situation.
Studying political science really helps
you understand the world as it is today
and kind of how we got to be where we
are now and not only that you get to
learn to think critically. Writing is a
big part of it, discussions, and speaking
class. I feel that all the components of
my major really prepare me for whatever
job or whatever your path that I would
choose to pursue in the future.
