Spotlight on CIMS

CIMS SENIOR SPOTLIGHTS Elisabeth Welch BY ALICIA METHOD

“It’s scary to think about going to the real world, but I think I’m ready for it,” senior Cinema & Media Studies major, Elisabeth Welch, who has a second Spanish major and a Theatre Arts minor, said. Her initial interest in these fields began with the theatre. Film became her primary interest, however, when she realized her desire to pursue something that she could “do anywhere.” Welch chose a Spanish major because she has “always

Nicole Farese, a senior Cinema and Media Studies Major with Minors in Writing and Sociology came to Gettysburg College with a desire to do something in the world of communications, but wasn’t exactly sure how to make that happen at Gettysburg, considering that at the moment the college does not offer a communications major. “At first I tried to do an individualized major by combining OMS and some

Nicole Farese BY JENNIFER CLOGG wanted to be bilingual.” She noted that her father urged her to declare a Spanish major due to its practicality. Her family also had influence in her decision to go to Gettysburg. “My family is a very big proponent of the small liberal arts college,” Welch said. While Welch has yet to begin her senior capstone projects, she has formulated her ideas. For her film capstone, she is planning to create a short film on living in Humor House. The short will be written in the style of a reality TV show like “The Bachelor” or “Total Drama Island”. For her Spanish capstone, she would like to write about the stereotypes and representation of Latin American women in Hollywood. This semester, Welch will be performing in both “Sense and Sensibility” and “Macbeth”. Eventually, she hopes to be a producer, although she recognizes that “things like this are very susceptible to change.” She is also thinking about attending law school someday. Welch will return to her home in North New Jersey upon graduation, in close proximity to New York City, where her aspirations lie. Looking back on her time at Gettysburg, Welch says, “I’ve made a very successful career for myself on campus, pursuing what I want to do.” While the future can be intimidating, she has no doubt she’ll find work. She is grateful for her time working at the Center for Career Engagement stating that her mentors and colleagues have been extremely supportive of what she does.

CIMS classes,” Farese said, but it ended up not exactly being what she was looking for. Shortly after coming to Gettysburg her first year, she discovered the CIMS Major, which at the time was fairly new. “I realized it didn’t make sense because I could just be a CIMS Major and take more writing classes focused on what I wanted to do, but I was nervous because it was such a new major with really only one professor teaching it. It’s ended up being a great experience!” “You wouldn’t think that sociology classes would apply much to what I wanted to do, but they really did!” Farese said. With respect to her senior capstone, Farese explained, “I studied in Florence where I met some of my extended family, and I’m super super Italian, so my idea is to interview my Italian-American grandma who just turned 90.” Farese plans to create her final CIMS assignment based around said interview and her experience with Italian culture. She will to use historical documents about other Italian-Americans as well as her own family to create a documentary on how many Italians immigrated to the United States. “We think that ItalianAmericans are so Italian, while Italians think Italian-Americans are so American,” Farese said. Once she graduates from Gettysburg this spring, Farese hopes to work for a CBS program, such as The Late Show, or attend graduate school.