Paige Carter

MAJORS: POLITICAL SCIENCE, GLOBAL STUDIES
MINOR: PROFESSIONAL WRITING 

Hello! My name is Paige Carter, and I am from Evansville, Indiana. I am currently a freshman majoring in Political Science and Global Studies! I am also pursuing a minor in Professional Writing and a certificate in Public Policy.

When I was starting to apply for colleges in high school, Purdue was not originally on my radar. Purdue is widely known as a STEM school, and I knew that I wanted to pursue a major in the humanities because I love studying history, English, and government. I applied to Purdue as another in-state option, but I really did not put much time into researching the school or the political science major that I had applied for. I was excited about my acceptance into the school and the political science major, but it was not until I started getting handwritten letters from the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) faculty and faculty within my program that I began to really consider Purdue as my future home.

No other school had made me feel so welcomed as an admitted student quite like the CLA did, and this really spoke to me. I truly felt that this program and college valued me as an admitted student, and I knew that my experiences within the college as a student would be no different. And I was absolutely right! In the CLA I have smaller class sizes, faculty that want to create relationships with all their students, and a diverse group of peers who encourage me to continue working hard and fuel my passion for learning. Purdue’s College of Liberal Arts gives me a smaller setting that I prefer for learning while also offering me the opportunities of a large and energetic, Big Ten school that I wanted. The big college experience that I get at Purdue University is definitely a plus, but it was really the College of Liberal Arts that sold me on Purdue.

Something that I have also enjoyed about the CLA is the flexibility in your curriculum to make your education what you want it to be. When I was exploring other political science programs, I was worried that political science might not be completely what I wanted to study because there were other fields that I was interested in pursuing. When I started my first semester here and got to know other CLA students, I learned that many were able to pursue multiple majors and minors within the college. After talking with my advisor, I added on my Global Studies double major. CLA makes it so accessible to pursue all your educational passions, and I feel like I can maximize my education here in ways that other colleges simply cannot.  Choosing Purdue was the best decision I have made for myself, and I hope that everyone gets to experience all the wonderful things that the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue has given me!