Finding a major among many different interests

Annie Kline ’20 is a perfect example of a student who comes to Cornell with a ton of interests and uses her first two years in the College of Arts & Sciences to explore the possibilities before deciding on a major. We sat down with Annie to find out how she came to major in history and minor in information science.

How did you choose Cornell?

Cornell was the first school I visited and I loved it immediately. I liked the idea going to a school with many different communities and the ability to be a part of those several different communities.

Did you know what you wanted to major in when you arrived?

I was chosen for a scientific research program in high school so I wondered whether I wanted to be a premed major. But all along, history and English had been my favorite classes hands-down. When I came to college, I wanted to get my feet wet so I tried a premed bio class to see what it was like, but I did apply as a history major.

How did you choose your major in history and minor in information science?

My mom told me to think about what I wanted to study every day. I wanted to stick with history, but combine it with something else, so I took more exploratory classes second semester of my freshmen year, like American studies, astronomy and Spanish. Then I came across information science. A bunch of my friends are information science majors and when I was reading about it, I realized it was very interdisciplinary. I can take it in a track that’s more humanities focused.

What classes have you really enjoyed?

I’m taking a class about designing technology for social impact and a networks class right now. In the networks class, we talk about how different networks in the world come about. We talk about page ranks, ad markets and google hits. In the design class, we talk about designer’s ideas and create our own, then analyze our own and examine the positive and negative effects that our designs might have on others. This minor opened me up to a whole world I didn’t know was out there in terms of academic fields.

Do you want to study abroad?

I’m thinking about either Amsterdam or London. I want to go to a city that’s bustling and exciting and has a rich culture.

What are some of your activities outside of class?

I’m in a sketch comedy group on campus called The Skits where we write and perform our own sketches. It’s an extremely talented, funny and smart group of people. I always had a passion for comedy growing up but I never really tried it before coming to Cornell.