It’s honors project season!
Senior Antonian Honors Scholars offer the inside scoop on their projects
Springtime means warmer weather, lots of rain, and flowers blooming all around campus. To seniors in the Antonian Honors Program, however, spring means that it is time to present their honors projects. Senior honors students spend all year working on their capstone project, and the pandemic has not got in the way of this!
Click here to watch the recordings of 2021 Honors Presentations, or continue on to read about four different projects created and presented by some of the 2021 seniors.
Breanna Zeinert
Though seniors work hard on their projects throughout the year, Breanna Zeinert ‘21 (Chemistry) mentions that Dr. Rafael Cervantes, associate professor in the communication department and faculty advisor for the Antonian Honors Program, encouraged her to choose a project that she would enjoy doing. For Zeinert, this meant painting.
“My honors project takes an artistic approach to the field of chemistry,” says Zeinert. “I created four pieces to represent [each] of my four years as a chemistry major. Each piece was created with layers of texture to show the invigorating laboratory work of a chemistry major, while a multitude of colors was used to convince the audience that experimentations within the lab are lively and thought-provoking.”
While many students are proud of the final outcomes of their projects, another source of pride comes directly from the hours put into perfecting the work and expressing different sides of themselves. For Zeinert, this project allowed her to fill the creative part of her that she had been missing since moving on from middle school.
“I challenged myself with these pieces and stayed dedicated to the project, and because of that I am proud,” Zeinert exclaims.
Emily Cox
While some projects were rooted in science and displayed in an artistic way, others used analysis to look closely at different works of art. Emily Cox ‘21 (English) used her honors project to analyze three different Young Adult (YA) books — The Hunger Games, Red Queen, and The Hate U Give.
With each of these books, she studied the main female protagonists, saw how they have changed over time, and how that influences expectations placed on the readers of these novels. Because of this, Cox named her project, “Girls on Fire: The Evolution of Female Characters in Young Adult Literature.”
Cox reflects that she is most proud of the way she was able to apply different skills that she’s learned from her education at St. Kate’s — especially literary analysis and critical analysis with an emphasis on diversity. But why did Cox decide to do this project in particular?
“I love fantasy and I grew up reading fantasy books with my older brother, but most traditional fantasy narratives center the stories of (white) men, so in high school, I went looking for more women in fantasy and found YA, a subset of literature dominated by women writers and characters,” Cox says. “I think it is more than worth it to take a moment to understand the importance of these stories featuring determined, revolutionary heroines who fight against corrupt systems and powers, especially as we become more and more aware of the corruption that exists within our own systems.”
Myah Schultz
Myah Schultz ‘21 (Political Science) took another approach to her project, “Election Fever: Coronavirus as Political Rhetoric.” Her project is an exploration of the confluence of COVID and politics through the medium of campaign-style buttons.
Schultz is extremely happy with the way her buttons turned out, as she was able to find a balance between making sure each button speaks to the issue at hand (coronavirus) and making sure each button was easy on the eye and visually appealing.
“I really did enjoy putting together my project. It was an interesting departure from using research primarily for paper writing. I got to use a different set of creative skills than I typically do in my coursework,” says Schultz. “As someone who studies political science, the 2020 presidential election had been on my radar since the very beginning of campaign season. When COVID hit and started insinuating itself into campaign rhetoric, I became very interested in the interplay between politics and the pandemic, which is why I decided to pursue the topic for my honors project.”
Schultz says that she particularly likes the concept of the honors project because each person really has the freedom to choose what they want to do. Many students use their majors or programs of study as the basis for the project, but they are able to put a more creative and interpretive twist on it.
“I loved getting the opportunity to flex my imagination,” Schultz says.
Myah Schultz’s ‘21 (Political Science) campaign buttons.
Meghan Katers and Meghan Landry
For their senior honors project, Meghan Katers ‘21 (Nursing) and Meghan Landry ‘21 (Nursing), conducted a study to identify gaps in support for parents of children with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS).
“Meghan [Landry] had a family friend that was personally affected by HLHS and that piqued her interest initially in the project,” says Katers. “Personally, I have always loved neonatal/pediatric nursing and have a desire to improve the patient experience through compassionate care. When the opportunity presented itself, I was ecstatic to become a part of the team.”
For this research study, Katers and Landry interviewed and then surveyed numerous parents, care team members, and primary caregivers of people with HLHS. They found that there were several gaps in parental support for people who were diagnosed with HLHS, and because of this, these students drew the conclusion that resources should be provided to help parents cope, help the care team with open communication, and welcome feedback on the parental experience.
When asked what they were most proud of about this project, they mentioned that they were able to conduct nursing research and actually presented their work at various conferences, which made an impact on patients and families coping with difficult health diagnoses.
“This project was a once in a lifetime opportunity that we are both incredibly thankful for. I am so proud of all of the work that our team has accomplished in such a short amount of time,” Katers says. “What made the honors project extra special to me was our amazing professor/supervisor Dr. Katherine Campbell. She is so passionate about her work and is the most amazing teacher I have ever had. Thinking about my time with her in this project brings bittersweet tears to my eyes. I could not imagine this project without her.”
