I have always had a love for art but wanted to pursue it differently. I wanted something broader so I could learn on a spectrum. With multimedia, it’s great to understand areas you may not have considered or known of before. I’ve grown an appreciation for graphic design and animation but have tried many more outlets.
Marina Alvarez ’15
My research experience (as a Pearson Scholar for Leadership and Engagement in Global Society under the guidance of Dr. Fiore Urízar) and my Spanish classes gave me skills to guide my career. My study intersected Literature, Art, and Sociology and has led me to excel in graduate school, publish academic articles, and work in art museums.
Rachael Drew ’14
Through extracurriculars like Model UN, I gained public speaking experience, and the interdisciplinary nature of the global studies major allowed me to explore multiple areas of study that helped make me a well-rounded candidate for master’s programs and the job market.
I had to create a portfolio throughout the program that highlighted my work and defended my work to my professors at the end. It made me feel accomplished and like I chose the right path for my future.
Marketing and communication is in everything. With this major I’m able to follow my passions and go into any industry that I choose. My future plans are to work in advertising for live music.
The blend of communication and business courses centered around marketing communication and business administration allows you to strategically immerse yourself in each field. The leadership, management and technical skills I have also learned within both of my majors have prepared me for wherever I choose to go in the future.
Richard Perez ’26
I want to be able to tell my own stories and learn how to push them out into the world. This major is so much more than just learning what films are and how they are made. It has taught me to become more creative and think deeply about the stories I hear. Each film class I have taken so far is never the same structure, which makes my classes feel fresh and never dull.
My future plans are to go to graduate school for counseling. Learning from my family and cultural experiences have played a factor in why I want to pursue my degree in sociology and criminology and criminal justice. Criminology and criminal justice allows me to learn about different disciplines, theories, and why criminals partake in crime.
Ashley Chastine ’23
Multimedia was such an expansive and versatile major in the creative field. All the required courses for a multimedia major will train you in graphic design, motion graphics, storyboarding, web design, 2-D and 3-D animation, and video editing. Because art was in the same department as my multimedia major, a lot of the classes crossed over and it allowed me to incorporate traditional art into my digital art. I recommend an art minor to creative minds who are interested in taking on all the forms of media at once.
Working in the Office of Undergraduate Admission made me realize I really enjoy talking and connecting with families and prospective students. They helped me realize that my skills and interests are aligned with what admission counselors do, and my goal in the future is to help underserved youth get to college and stay in college.
Rudy Perez ’24
I fell in love with creating music no one has ever heard. And if you are able to make something tailored to a person, they can make your music even better! I’ve been producing music since I was a senior in high school, and I loved tinkering with audio plugins and learning about computers. I highly encourage students with a music major and composition emphasis to double major in music production. Nowadays, a single composer often does the job of multiple people. In doing both of these majors, I found they often overlapped.
Ariana Godinez ’24
I decided to major in business administration because I knew that it would be the most beneficial for me and the career I want for my future. School of Management events have made me realize that business is the correct path for me to pursue. I plan on obtaining my master’s degree in business administration and eventually going to work in a career in financial planning or advising. I would say French is a good pairing with my business major because it is the third most spoken language in the world of business.
I was a patient not long ago, and it allowed me to value my team of doctors much more and learn from them. As I became healthier, I began furthering my interests in medicine and patient care by volunteering at hospitals. I am incredibly thankful to now work at Los Robles Regional Medical Center as a Certified Nursing Assistant where I am surrounded by a great team of professionals and focus on direct patient care.
Ali Gregory ’25
I chose psychology with an emphasis in sports because I have been a competitive athlete my whole life and realized that there is a big mental side to the sports world. I also am very interested in the mind and how it works with dealing with stress and performance, so this major was the exact area for me. I chose a sports management minor to gain another part of a sports background for my sports psychology studies, and to help get my foot through the door in the sports world.
Sierra Knopp ’24
I chose to major in psychology because I am fascinated by how the brain processes information and how it rebounds from injury and disease. Exploring multiple topics within psychology through my classes and working with professors on research teams has allowed me to discover my passion for clinical psychology. My dad graduated from Cal Lutheran in 1989 with a German minor; my whole life he spoke highly of the program with Dr. Walter Stewart. My minor has been helpful, especially when studying the history of psychology and the founding German psychologists. I am currently working as a German department assistant and am excited to help tutor students as they learn the language.
I chose the communication major due to my interest in publicity, social media, and it has allowed me to pursue different jobs roles while gaining expertise and knowledge about many communication topics. Last year, I took a few courses related to public relations that further affirmed my interest in a PR career. My current internship for CLD PR has also helped me identify my career path since I am working closely with celebrity and influencer teams to carry out PR-related disciplines.
Emma Johnson ’23
As a department assistant in the Visual Arts department, I’ve gotten to work closely with a lot of the different professors who are encouraging me to do the best that I can. I came to Cal Lutheran with very low confidence in my work and ability to create and I am leaving knowing that I have the power to determine everything I want to accomplish. If art is something you’re interested in, you should look more into it and see how you can incorporate it into your life more.
Maia Sable ’24
Psychology offers a very broad educational experience where you can find many specific avenues of interest. Taking Adult Development and Aging (PSYC 305) helped me narrow down my future career. I chose a religion minor because I love how religion can be applied to numerous settings and how it can open doors for people to meet and learn from one another. Religion can be interpreted in many different ways and therefore offer much to us in everyday and scholarly discussions.
George Khoury ’21
Studying philosophy not only laid the foundation for my critical thinking skills, but it has also allowed me to think about the law in a broader way. Even more practically, studying philosophy was extremely useful in preparing for the LSAT and succeeding in rule-based reasoning that is inherent in legal practice.Through the political science department I was able to participate in the Lutheran College Washington Semester in D.C. and the Oxford program (virtually) as well as work in various internships like with the United States Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles County Public Defender. All the professors in the department helped me identify my passions and pursue my goals by encouraging me to do things that I never thought I could do.
Yanely Lara ’24
This major has a range of career options and will help with personal growth. I am interested in working within the juvenile justice system to make a positive impact on young lives and help them navigate their challenges. I have identified this path by taking courses such as Child and Adolescent Development (PSYC 304), volunteering my time at local schools and joining ride-alongs with the local sheriff’s department.
I would recommend biochemistry for any student that wants to understand more about the basic building blocks of life. Learning some of the concepts at first can be frustrating, but it is really rewarding to be able to apply them in a lab setting outside of lectures. I am also an applied scientific computing minor and am learning science communication skills that can be applied to many career paths, such as medicine, science journalism and quality control. This will allow me to have more options for career paths after I graduate and aid me in my further studies as a biochemistry major.
I believe biology is a universal degree that covers pretty much everything, there are so many career paths to explore such as pharmaceuticals or zoology. The thing that intrigued me about the environmental science major was the types of labs that were offered under it. Many of them involve field work, like the water resources lab. And this summer, I participated in directed research with Dr. Megan Fung. Through that I gained laboratory skills as a first-year and an amazing opportunity to begin my journey toward my dream career.
I feel both of my degrees have interesting courses as well as real-life applications for continuing my educational journey towards an MD, PhD, or both.
Jocelin Hernandez ’24
I have always loved numbers and hands-on work, so a chemistry major allowed me to explore my passion for analytical chemistry. While at Cal Lutheran, I have the best of both worlds: tons of hands-on experience with direct and personal guidance and collaborative quantitative work. As I immersed myself in the science buildings on campus, I realized that I have access to a wide range of instruments, a variety of research topics to explore and extremely supportive professors.
I chose environmental science because it is an interdisciplinary major where there are a plethora of skills you can learn. I wanted to study something highly applicable across many fields in STEM and humanities so I would get the best of both worlds. I love how I can decide if I want to study present issues like climate change or study past climates through research.