Lindsey Trimmer

My first quarter at the University of Washington, I adamantly denied the fact I wanted to be a Political Science major. Maybe it was because of the expectation that all Political Science majors go to law school, maybe it was because of my stereotype of what Political Science majors were like (somewhat pretentious, for example). For whatever reason, I did not take my first Political Science class until winter quarter of my freshman year, and this class changed everything; during my first Political Science class I created a note-taking style that worked for me, I learned how to study for tests and how to ask the right questions. I developed these skills throughout the rest of my classes at UW and it completely changed the way I approached my academics. My new note-taking and studying style seemed to work and I realized that Political Sciences classes were the classes for me. My love for the subject and the ease in which I understood it could not be denied. 

My next major set of Political Science classes that left a major impact on my academic journey were my Political Science Honors seminars for the Political Science Honors Program. I joined this program the fall quarter of my junior year and it ended up impacting my life in a multitude of ways; without the program I would have never gotten the chance to write my thesis, take the incredible seminars I did or meet my 15 cohort members who I value so dearly. Specifically, Professor Rebecca Thrope's seminar, "Institutional Failure", examined the political structures throughout the United States and they how they sometimes fail to work in the ways they are intended to. Although it mostly focused on domestic structures and policies, of which I had little background in, I was able to complete my final project on the structures in France that limited equal representation for the Muslim community in politics. Looking at the headscarf issues in France under this lens additionally helped prepare me to complete my honors thesis.

After welcoming the reality of what I was going to study in school, I dove head first into the Political Science major and found my new home. After learning how to note-take, study and participate in my first Political Science class, I was faced with the task of writing my first Political Science-based research paper in Professor Cichowski's Political Science 367 course. This paper pushed me to use the legal resources in the Law Library and my TA to further understand the course expectations and the disciplinary style of Political Science writing. This essay quickly became my favorite project to that point at UW, just as Professor Cichowski quickly became one of my favorite teachers at UW. My TA who selflessly helped me work through my research paper soon became my supervisor when I signed on to help with her dissertation research that winter and spring and I learned my ultimate love for research. Not only did this first research experience go on to shape my professional goals and journey, but this paper allowed me to connect my pervious study abroad to Munich to court structures in Germany and eventually became one part of the basis of my Political Science Honors thesis 

My Political Science Honors Thesis, "Limited Implementation of State Policies for Minorities: A comparison of German and French relationships with the Islamic Headscarf" was greatly inspired by both my study abroad and my subsequent classes in the Political Science major. Writing this thesis was one of the most difficult experiences I had in college; it seemed at every step there was a roadblock that prevented me from creating my best work. I was constantly uninspired and disheartened about my topic and the process I was experiencing. My negative experience ultimately affected the quality of my thesis. Although it was an incredibly difficult experience and broke my will at times, I'm thankful to have gotten to learn from it in the way I did. I learned the importance of finding a thesis advisor you work well with, the importance of attempting to narrow your topic of interest early on and the importance of not overworking yourself or putting too much on your plate at once. Although I had a negative experience completing my first thesis, just like in traveling, you don't limit future travel plans based off of one negative experience; not everything works out exactly as you plan but that doesn't mean you don't try again. The experience I had creating my Political Science Honors Thesis ultimately inspired me to complete another thesis through the Comparative History of Ideas program the next year, on a more specific topic, with a less hectic schedule and while working an advisor who constantly inspires me and provided me with ample support.