Katy Dolan '18
Special Assistant to the CEO, Cue Ball Capital

I am not a particularly academically motivated person, and when I first came to Harvard I felt very aimless and didn't know what to study. I didn't really know what sociology was, but took a first class in sophomore fall (I think?) and really liked the perspective of the discipline and the flexibility to study particular issues of my interest within the concentration. Then in sophomore spring, I took Men, Women, and Work with Professor Brinton and my whole approach to academics at Harvard shifted. I had taken a few gender-related classes that year, so I was already interested in gender issues and thought that I would focus in sociology on those, but MWW really sharpened my interest to women in the workplace. From that point on, I wrote pretty much every paper in every single class on something related to women in the workplace, stretching assignments as much as possible to accommodate that topic. Of course, I also was so passionate about the topic that I decided to write a thesis (again, without being much of an 'academic person' and with no ambition to pursue graduate study in sociology).

It was a joy to apply everything that I have learned, thought about, written, discussed with Professor Brinton, etc. to the study I undertook over the last year. This wasn't a clear single highlight of my experience in sociology, but what I'm trying to convey is that my entire sociology experience was a highlight - while I would go back and do many things differently at Harvard, choosing sociology is without a doubt the best decision that I made in Cambridge, and I have so much love for the department where I finally found my academic home.