From Politics to Neuroscience: 5 Princeton Courses I’ll Never Forget

Posted on by Ryan Champeau

Photograph of Nassau Hall at night. Blueish-Green light is cast over the center of the building. The brick pathway leading up is wet and covered in fall leaves.
Rainy fall leaves will turn to snowy flakes before you know it; it’s never too early to plan some future courses!

“I have to wake up at 6:23 AM for course enrollment?!” Yes. You do. But you got this! It’s true that course enrollment is still a month away, but it is never too early to start drafting your schedule to avoid this “oh no” early-bird moment. Generally, I recommend taking courses that excite you, even if they are outside of your major, because before you know it you’ll be an old senior like me wishing you had time to take more. Everyone has a different taste in classes. I am a SPIA major who is passionate about service, social justice, and law, but I have tried to take unique and expansive research-based classes. Thus, without further ado, here are 5 of my most memorable classes at Princeton, in no particular order, and why they might be of interest to you:

Continue reading From Politics to Neuroscience: 5 Princeton Courses I’ll Never Forget

Submitted and Successful: 3 Final Steps Before Turning in Your First Paper

Posted on by Ryan Champeau

Photograph of Princeton University in the rain, with many students walking, biking, and scootering to class holding umbrellas or wearing rain jackets
These rainy, gloomy days are perfect for colorful umbrellas and cozy paper-writing sessions.

“Did I include a scholarly conversation? Where is the motive of my piece? Do I even have a thesis?!” The “Submit” button on Canvas can stir worrisome thoughts as it may seem permanent or stressful. The goal of this post is to walk you through a few final steps you can take to ensure that everything is in check and ready to go, so that you don’t feel like something is missing once turning in your assignment. These points are by no means the end all be all, but you may use them to help you feel more confident handing in your final product. Thus, without further ado, here are 3 final steps to follow before submitting your research paper.

Continue reading Submitted and Successful: 3 Final Steps Before Turning in Your First Paper

A look into Princeton Independent Research: Presenting Proposals to Congressmember Bush

Posted on by Ryan Champeau

Our task force meeting Congressmember Bush last semester.
She was truly inspirational.

     When you are a first-year, you hear about the Senior Thesis, the Junior Paper, and independent research. While these may seem daunting and unexciting, they are actually some of the most unique and amazing parts of the Princeton experience. Most juniors do independent research within their respective majors. As a SPIA major, I took a Task Force in the fall, where I worked with a professor and team of SPIA students to achieve a policy mission, and I am now in a Research Seminar, where I am doing more quantitative research on a new policy issue. In this post, I would like to share my experiences in my task force last semester in order to help you gain an understanding of what independent research could look like, and how truly incredible it can be.

Continue reading A look into Princeton Independent Research: Presenting Proposals to Congressmember Bush