An interview with Laura Manville, 06, co-winner of the Pearson Prize

1. What was the best thing you liked about the senior essay experience? Why should a senior choose the senior essay over an upper-level American Studies seminar? What are the pluses and minuses?

Writing a year-long senior essay was one of the most challenging things I did at Yale, and I am so glad I chose to write one. Because of the length of the project, and my topic, I was pushed to think through many intellectual questions that I had encountered over the past four years, in a way that no other requirement would have demanded. My writing and research skills are much stronger now, and I feel like I'm now a real participant in the academic world. It's really rewarding to finish senior year with a piece of writing you can be proud of.

2. What advice would you give for getting started on the senior essay?

Find a topic you really feel passionate about, and have an opinion on. A year is a long time, and you're committing a lot of yourself when you start on a project like this one. Do some reading beforehand, to make sure your topic can sustain your interest. If you're not sure it can, or you aren't looking forward to working on your project, be careful! Even those of us who really loved our topics got burnt out at times, and it's not a good feeling.

3. What advice would you give about finding and working with an academic advisor?

Meet with your advisor as much as she/he agrees to, especially at the beginning, and even if it feels unnecessary. Building a comfortable relationship with my advisor took a little while, since I didn't know her going into the year, but working with her was one of the best parts of doing this project. In the end, it's not always the meetings where you have specific questions that are the most productive, but the ones where you have a good conversation.

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