Love Your Department

Enjoy the investment you are making for your future 

By Kate Yapp

As a junior who is both a double major and a double minor, I joke that I changed my major enough times in high school that I did not have to in college. When I started my college search, I was attending a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) focused high school. I found classes like the sociology elective I took my senior year of high school more my speed but was not sure until after I had taken AP Chemistry my junior year that a future in science was probably not for me. I did, however, know that it would be a lot of work to transfer colleges, and while it is okay to come in undecided, you should be content with the offerings at the school you pick. That is why I only looked at colleges that offered all of the programs I was thinking about pursuing. It narrowed my choices down, but it also gave me more flexibility once I started my undergraduate studies.

My Own Program Experiences and Opportunities

My majors are Communication Studies and Political Science. The communications part is fitting because my last name is Yapp and I have always been extremely talkative and outgoing. I also have a huge interest in politics and social justice, hence why I am president of the Political Science Club on campus and joke about running for president in 2040. I have always been firm on my interest in pursuing a Political Science degree but was challenged to find colleges that also offered a Communication Studies program. The soft but underrated skill did not seem to be prioritized by a lot of schools, which I found incredibly surprising considering how important effective communication is to making the world turn.

Communication Studies

Communications Department Values banner, found in the Speech Building of St Kate’s.

I am currently taking a class called Communication in Organizations with Professor Pamela Nettleton and have learned a lot already about management styles and authority structures. My freshman year, I took a speech class, Speaking to Lead and Influence with Professor Margaret McCue-Enser, and I still pull up the presentation I made on Bumble versus Tinder for friends. Last fall, I was in two classes taught by Dr. M, Introduction to Communication: Women and Social Change and Rhetoric of Resistance. I learned more about indigenous history in Minnesota and land reparations than I ever expected to. I learned promotion for events and different mediums of communication that humans use to convey what is important to us and what we value. I was able to put on a very sacred event with my classmates and the Million Artist Movement and make a Power Tree Quilt as a sign of solidarity with the members of my community and the issues they face. I was also able to more richly experience and appreciate the University-wide focus on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and stolen land because of the background I was learning about Jaime Black’s ReDress Movement and the fliers my class designed and gave out.

Political Science

The entrance of the Economics and Poly Sci Suite on campus.

Politics is a male-dominated field, which is why I specifically enjoy being at a historically-women’s university to study it. I have been able to develop and hone my own leadership style without feeling like I have to conform to a more masculine and/or aggressive approach to get my points across and deliver results. The three specified classes for all Political Science majors at St. Kate’s are great starting points to unlock further understanding of political tensions and current and historical events and dilemmas.

Intro to American Government helped me understand the philosophy of our government in a way I had never critically examined in a US history or government class in high school. Comparative Politics forced me to really invest time into understanding other countries and their structures and societies, which is especially critical as Americans in particular have a very limited knowledge of politics beyond our own borders. Introduction to World Politics further drove that point home. I appreciate the variety of classes offered in the Political Science department. I was able to take Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict during the 2020 election season which was very well-timed to observe how nations construct identities for themselves and their populations and then what motivates them to vote for certain policies and candidates. In the spring of 2021, I was able to take a class called Candidate Katie, which really helped me believe in myself as a woman going into politics and feel confident about what I can bring to the table to get the job done and improve my community. Having a rotating range of classes keeps my Political Science major interesting and relevant.

Marketing

I sold Girl Scout cookies for several years and am still a Lifelong Girl Scout (it is Girl Scout cookie season now by the way). I beat some records and sold enough cookies to fully fund a trip to the London World Girl Scout Center in 2017 so growing up I always heard I would be good at sales. Just because you are good at something does not mean you have to do it, but I know that marketing analyzes the behavior of your target audience and their motivations and desires, and applying that in your communication strategy can make your efforts more successful, hence why I have a Marketing minor.

As part of the Marketing minor, I was required to take Business Analytics and Integrated Marketing Communication, which have been incredibly satisfying for me to add new skills of mastery to my resume and help me improve my chances of getting a job or an internship even while still being an undergraduate student. Being able to say I have a thorough understanding of Excel Spreadsheets and social media platforms (which are a lot less intuitive than many employers think) and the certificates and portfolio to prove it are so gratifying and empowering as a young woman going into the workforce when we know that so many women will not apply for a job unless they feel overqualified for it. Additionally, I did not expect in my Buyer Behavior and Market Research course with Professor Sarah Rand to get experience doing nationwide research for an education nonprofit.

Philosophy

The Humanities suite is located on the fourth floor of the CDC. Stop in and say hello to the amazing professors!

My mom likes to joke that I do not have a Philosophy minor, but an Anne Maloney minor. She has a point; every philosophy class I have taken so far has been with Professor Maloney. She’s the John Keating (“Dead Poets Society” reference) of St. Kate’s– charismatic, funny, inspiring, animated, compassionate, and knows what the heck she is talking about. My mom knows this because she also had Professor Maloney thirty years ago for an Ethics course.

My first Philosophy course was Philosophy and Women, to satisfy the general education core philosophy requirement, during the fall of my freshman year (before Covid became a full-fledged pandemic). Dr. Maloney believes films and movies are a great medium through which we do philosophy in modern times because so many people see the same films and then talk about them (and their theories about the morals, character development, and symbolism.) I enjoyed doing the analysis so much and realized that further study could enhance my communication skills and understanding of how people justify different actions to themselves and others so they can live their lives, so I decided to add this minor. 

How Will You Decide?

College is a big investment and while it is advisable to not only be strategic in how you make that investment and how you will use this experience to prepare you for your future, it is equally important to enjoy what you are doing at every step in the process. Maybe we will have a class together!