Shiyuan Wang
Informational Interview
For my interview, I decided to interview Joe Staff, a fifth-year senior at The Ohio State University who is double majoring in International Studies and Economics and double minoring in French and Business. And within the International Studies major, Staff is specializing in Relations and Diplomacy. With such a heavy workload balancing out all of his majors and minors, it is no wonder that he is still at OSU after five undergraduate years, but Staff does not seem bothered by his busy life. While he definitely did not pick an easy combination of majors and minors his freshman year, he is satisfied with his decision to challenge himself by tackling a diverse array of fields of study.
I actually met Staff from one of the clubs I am currently participating in: the Collegiate Council of World Affairs, a club where Staff is the president. He has always had a friendly and approachable demeanor, so I felt comfortable in asking him if he could spare some of his free time in order to help me out with this assignment. CCWA is a club that focuses on domestic and international affairs and incorporates many branches including a Model UN team, a student-run publication called Alger Magazine, and the United Nations Advocacy. As someone who is interested in pursuing Political Science and History with a minor in French, this club perfectly fit all of my passions. But the main reason I wanted to interview Staff is because of his International Studies degree; even though International Studies is different from Political Science, the two majors are so similar and intertwined that I decided I could still receive some valuable insight into the world of Political Science from Staff.
Something interesting I found out from our interview is that Staff, like me, also started out in Exploration his freshman year before declaring his majors by the second semester of freshman year. But even after that, he was a Business major for a while before he decided that an Economics and International Studies major better fit his passions and believed that both were very applicable to the real world. And since International Studies majors also require a French minor, he decided to pursue French to extend what he had already learned from high school French. During his sophomore year, Staff had the amazing opportunity of studying abroad in Quebec for six weeks, and more recently he also had the chance to intern for the Columbus Council on World Affairs to combine both his International Studies and Economics skills conveniently into one internship. Staff is also part of a co-ed Honors Fraternity, which helps him with networking and connecting with other people who have similar interests to him.
While International Studies and Political Science are two different departments, Staff admitted that he took most of his classes for International Studies through the Political Science department. Overall, the faculty in Political Science is very helpful and accessible, with a wide and diverse range of scholars at the top of their fields. I felt reassured to learn that the department I was considering was such an amazing one, which solidified my interest in it even more. And it also doesn’t hurt that OSU’s PoliSci department is one of the top ten in the nation. In International Studies, Staff particularly enjoyed Dr. Randall Schweller’s class on Theories of International Relations, who is technically a Political Science professor. But since he focuses on international affairs too his classes are included in the International Studies major.
My interview re-solidified my resolve to further pursue Political Science, most likely with a focus on international relations. I also want to declare a History major because I have always enjoyed learning about it and I feel that college would give me a good opportunity to explore the culture and origins of different regions in the world. I learned a lot from Staff, and he also gave me some important advice on how to manage my time and classes toward the future. The various resources from Exploration such as the lectures gave me a chance to explore all that was offered at OSU in order for me to consider all of my options before making me an informed decision. While I have not used the resources given to us in the workbook, at least now I know where I can receive help should I ever struggle with anything during college. Now, I finally believe that I declare my majors with confidence and pride after my semester of college.