Obligatory tourist picture with Chris Burden’s “Urban Light” sculpture during a field trip to LACMA.

Hello everyone! My name is Jasmine. I am a sophomore here at Scripps, and I’m very excited to write for this blog. Since this is my first post, I’ll provide some information about where I am on my academic and career path. I am drawn to a career in business, but I’ve also loved art history ever since I took the AP course in high school. I intend to declare my studies in some combination of economics, accounting, and/or art history—how exactly this will pan out remains to be seen. I just spent a formative summer studying accounting at CMC and interning at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery (click here for my post-internship reflection).

When I started at the Gallery, I wasn’t sure how to answer the question, “What are your goals and interests?” Trying on different “hats” when it comes to major decisions has definitely worked well for me in the past, so studying art law and going to Geneva became my go-to responses for when others inevitably asked about my interests. My thought process wasn’t particularly enlightened—the field of copyright and reproduction law sounded important enough to satisfy my mother, and Geneva was the one city I could think of where my studies in French, art history, and economics would all be applicable.

But having a specific, consistent answer at the ready allowed me to:

1. Present myself as thoughtful and driven to potentially significant figures when networking,
2. Practice articulating my reasons for these decisions, and
3. Gather information about prospective paths from others’ responses.

Specifying my interests also made it easier for my immediate supervisors to identify valuable experiences or projects for me to tackle. When I told the other interns that I was thinking about Geneva, they volunteered relevant information not only about that country, but also Italy, France, and London. After actually talking to an art lawyer and learning that Geneva is one of the most expensive places to study abroad, I realized these probably weren’t the right choices for me. My two current paths of interest are now studying abroad in London and pursuing a career in art appraisal, goals I believe will tie together my interests in economics, accounting, and art history.

My posts will focus on the important decisions I make this year regarding study abroad, choosing a major, and searching for an internship. I will also write about working on campus as a tour guide in Admissions and a career consultant with CP&R. I hope to serve as a valuable resource relevant to many in the Scripps community. If you have a question or concern you’d like me to address, please leave a reply in the comments!