What Do You Do

By Luci Farrell










The other day someone asked me a question that was responded with the look your mother told you not to make or else your face would be stuck that way. In this case, it would be appropriate. The question?
“I don’t get it. I thought senior year was supposed to be easy, why are you so stressed out? I mean, what do you even do?”
So I thought I would give an insight to the day in my life. To do that I have to give a brief look at the roles I hold on campus.

I am:
*A Student
-Organizational Communication major
-Anthropology minor
-Student in the Honors Program
-A Senior graduating in May
-Chair of HPSAC
-Member of Anthropology Club
-Taking 15 credit hours
*A Resident Peer Minister
-A listening ear
-A spiritual advisor
-This requires weekly meetings in the quad, meetings with my Hall Minister (the lovely Sarah), and the rest of the amazing Resident Peer Ministers on Campus
*Working on my Senior Project.

Now you may wonder why working on my Senior Project has its own bullet. That’s simple. Research and compiling a project is something that needs its own space. I’m sure many of you reading this can agree that research takes time. I spent my junior year fieldwork class for honors to compile most of the research that has gone into understanding my senior project. Of course, new research always comes to light. New avenues come into play and we always seem to find new perspectives. My senior project deals with looking at the way deception is seen in nonverbal communication. That’s the simplest way to explain it. It is exciting, rich with information, and I have been so fortunate to find people willing to speak with and help me. About two weeks ago I sent out a posting on CRTNET (The Communication, Research and Theory Network). I explained who I was, what I was doing, and asked for any help. The next day by noon I had six responses. A few hours later I had gained a few more. While this may not seem like much, how often do you get to have professionals offer their help and tell you how excited and amazed they are by your drive? These are published researches in their field, individuals who hold doctorates and are offering to point me in the right direction and even provide an interview. Let’s just say I got a little emotional at the boom in my inbox. When everything else is stressing you out simple good news makes you happy. This kind of news? Well it brings you to a state that even the bad news the rest of the day provides cannot touch.

Now aside from this help I also have a pile of articles (that has been cut down considerably from last year) and a stack of books. This is what it looks like when you put it all together (in an organized way).



Well. Keep in mind this is when my desk is neat. In other words I put everything together for this picture. My iPad to the left, usually with Dropbox open. For those that have never used Dropbox, let me just say that it is a fantastic program and it happens to be linked to my iPad, iPhone, and laptop. Also before you say it, yes I am a poster child for Apple products. Make fun all you want, I am perfectly okay with it. Beneath my iPad is that pile of articles I mentioned before. It stands at just over 2”, which is impressive since I cut down on articles I found useful. Last year my stack was 41/2”. I wish I was kidding. I should also mention I have some articles saved to the iPad that aren’t as important as the printed copies, but still have some relevance. While I believe that electronic copies are great and saving our environment is wonderful, for research I prefer hard copies.

Next to the articles you see one of my water bottles (a needed source of hydration) and my phone (a needed source of entertainment and SOS text messages). Then you see the books. We’re not even going to explain the books too much. They vary in their disciplines and all scare me. I won’t lie. It’s intimidating to see all those books just staring at you.

Then you have the fun things to the far right that keep me sane. On top of my laptop you can see my mouse, headphones, and Dante, my gargoyle and wonderful companion I have mentioned before. You also see my remote, the lovely tool used to keep the TV going for a source of background noise and occasional breaks. You can also see my Rubik's cube on one of the books. When I get really frustrated with a chapter or find myself unable to comprehend something, I mix up the cube and take a few minutes to solve it. Everyone has something that clears their mind, I have my little puzzle cube. The last object you see happens to be my scissors. Those are there when I start thinking about trimming my hair. Once again, I wish I was kidding.

All in all, as scary as research and senior projects are, I’m happy. I get stressed because I want to do well. I get stressed because there’s so much to know and I want to be able to read it all. As crazy as it sounds I love research. I love diving into the words that flood a page. I love learning about people, their relationships, and their insecurities. Why people lie and how they do it is just, well, thrilling. In any other time I may be thought of as obsessed, but here in school I’m a researcher. It’s acceptable and encouraged to watch people, to ask questions, to throw yourself into a book and resurface days later.

What do I do? I research. I laugh, I scream, I pull my hair, and I learn. Truth be told, there’s no other way I can imagine spending my last year in college. I pass along all of this information to you so you can see what the future holds and know that once you find out what you love, even when it drives you crazy-no especially when it drives you crazy, you will love it even more.

Keep Calm and Research On

Luci Farrell is a senior from New Haven, CT. She is an Organizational Communication major with a minor in Anthropology. Luci is a Resident Peer Minister on campus and chair of the Honors Program Advisory Council at Saint Xavier University.