For my practicum, I took CPSP359S, Advanced Practicum:
Discovery Research. In this class, we researched and
investigated a topic of our choice. I chose to research the
public perception of election polling, and looked into
potential improvements of election forecasts. Throughout
the class, I completed an annotated bibliography, literature
review, prospectus, and a research presentation on my topic.
I found my practicum by looking into different classes that I could take to fulfill my practicum. CPSP359S stuck out to me because of how it would help me cultivate my research skills. For future Media Scholars, I would definitely recommend looking into classes you can take to complete your practicum and reach out to the professors for the class to see what classes could help you develop skills for your future plans.
I learned valuable skills about how to perform research in an academic context. From high school, I had limited experience writing research papers, but this class provided a much more comprehensive look into how to perform academic research. After taking CPSP359S, I feel much more comfortable with potentially applying these research skills in the future.
I learned valuable skills about how to perform research in an academic context. From high school, I had limited experience writing research papers, but this class provided a much more comprehensive look into how to perform academic research. After taking CPSP359S, I feel much more comfortable with potentially applying these research skills in the future.
I feel like I have grown as a student as a result of this experience, because I have diversified my skillset. As a math and econ major, I do not have as much experience writing, particularly in a scholarly, non-conversational tone. Through my practicum, I have gained a lot of experience writing in this manner, like I did in my Prospectus Paper. I chose this assignment because I feel that it is a good representation of how I have developed my scholarly writing abilities while taking this class.
My practicum experience will apply to my future as I definitely see academic research as part of my future, both at University of Maryland and beyond. Before I graduate, I plan to pursue departmental honors in the math department, and one of the paths in that program involves doing some novel mathematical research. My experience learning how to write annotated bibliographies, literature reviews, and present my findings will definitely help with that. If you want to know more about my experience, here's a link to My Resume.
My practicum experience will apply to my future as I definitely see academic research as part of my future, both at University of Maryland and beyond. Before I graduate, I plan to pursue departmental honors in the math department, and one of the paths in that program involves doing some novel mathematical research. My experience learning how to write annotated bibliographies, literature reviews, and present my findings will definitely help with that. If you want to know more about my experience, here's a link to My Resume.
Future Plans
Over the next few years at University of Maryland, I plan to continue taking mathematics and economics classes, and I also plan to pursue a minor in Business Analytics. I am excited about the opportunities that these classes will teach me, as I will get to learn industry skills like SQL and Python, while also learning interesting topics in my academic interests. As I mentioned before, I plan on pursuing departmental honors in the math department, but I also hope to become more involved in extracurriculars on campus before I graduate.
Once I graduate, I plan on getting a master's degree in either statistics or data analytics. From there, I hope to enter industry analyzing data in some capacity. Something that excites me about working with data is that there are many different applications of it across many different fields. The two fields that stand out most to me are sports and politics, because those have both long been interests of mine, but I'm open to exploring using data in many different ways.
Once I graduate, I plan on getting a master's degree in either statistics or data analytics. From there, I hope to enter industry analyzing data in some capacity. Something that excites me about working with data is that there are many different applications of it across many different fields. The two fields that stand out most to me are sports and politics, because those have both long been interests of mine, but I'm open to exploring using data in many different ways.