Marie Dugo

The senior thesis. For some students it is a requirement of their major, for others it is an optional but necessary step toward earning honors within their departments. It is a buzz phrase that permeates campus-wide conversations and moods throughout the entire academic year thanks to different departmental due dates. At any given time, sentiments surrounding the topic fluctuate between excitement, dread, accomplishment, misery, and relief. As a Media Studies major, I was required to complete a "senior project," an alternative term referring to the option of creating a media product accompanied by a written analysis shorter than a traditional thesis. No matter what form it takes, it needs to happen.

The beauty of a liberal-arts education lies in the flexibility it provides in selecting courses and charting academic paths. This is what I have loved so much about my four years here, and speaks to why I chose two multidisciplinary programs, Media Studies as a major and Urban Studies as a correlate, as my frameworks. I knew from the moment I sent in my early-decision application that a liberal-arts preparation was what I wanted, even though that is unusual for the television broadcast field I aspire to enter.

While that was certainly my focus, I was amazed at how much I enjoyed the array of other topics covered in the Media Studies curriculum. Above all, Vassar made me realize that things I was already noticing, pondering, and questioning were valid academic exercises. It also revealed how everyday practices could provide a layered text with which to engage. The fundamental courses in both programs, Approaches to Media Studies and Introduction to Urban Studies, showcase the multidisciplinary frameworks. As professors from departments like Economics, Sociology, History, and English guest starred for a few class meetings each, I realized my media and urban passions encompass the best of all Vassar worlds.

And that I did. Looking back at my transcript feels like walking down a fond memory lane, one that reassures me of how valuable the past four years will be out in the real world. For someone interested in the television broadcast field, I must admit questions lurking in the back of my mind were: "But what if I went to a school like Syracuse University? What if I had a bachelor's in ‘Broadcast Journalism' instead of the seemingly aloof ‘Media Studies?'" Aided by the encouragement of my advisor, an expert in news media, Bill Hoynes, I quickly got over those qualms and completely converted to the liberal arts approach, grateful for its emphasis on fundamental skills, like critical reading and writing, to transcend and future job.

Another moment of uncertainty came when I had to solidify my senior project concept. I knew I wanted to equally involve my major and correlate, as has been the case in my life—academic and otherwise. Since I can remember, I have always gravitated toward the Today Show on NBC as my favorite television product. While some television snobs could quickly write it off as a case-in-point of the infotainment quandary or propagandistic tool in culture industry consumerism, I see the program as a crucial component of our media landscape that deserves the same level of analysis I have studied for others. After conducting research, I learned that such a work indeed did not exist.

As a native New Yorker, I have always recognized a certain synergy between the city and the NBC network. Engaging in an analysis of Today highlights this relationship between the media and the urban more so than any of its NBC siblings or competition. These were conclusions I drew on my own, but were still unsure of in terms of presenting the concept to the Media Studies Program. The doubt honestly stemmed from how shocked I was that my pleasures in life could also be my work, and vice-versa. As I talked through the idea, there was so much to it that I decided to take the traditional route and strictly do a written thesis that would analyze Today alongside the history of its hometown.

When I flip through the 69 pages now, far removed from the Thompson Memorial Library 24-Hour Room chairs whose hospitality I abused, I can't help but be filled with contentment. Yes, I cursed the entire process somewhere between first draft edits and image citations. Yes, I've never been more stressed and sleep deprived than this semester. But you know what? I loved sitting in that 24-Hour Room with my fellow Media Studies majors, commiserating via glance and Facebook posts. I loved watching all of us present our work at the Symposium on Wednesday, May 11. I loved seeing all of us accomplish the biggest academic feat of our lives thus far, live to tell the tale, and graduate with a project that embodies how the past four years that have shaped us.

As I move on from Vassar College and into 30 Rockefeller Plaza (the same building I wrote a thesis chapter on) as a member of the NBC Universal East Coast Page Program, I couldn't be happier about or more prepared for what lies ahead. And I wouldn't want my diploma to say anything other than Vassar College Media Studies.

—Marie Dugo is the outgoing social-media editor of The Miscellany News and president of the Vassar Catholic Community.