Three triple majors are here to give us the inside scoop: how passion, time management and interdisciplinary connections can create a unique and fulfilling journey in college.

Emma Power is a senior triple-majoring in political science, international studies and Spanish. Her three-pronged pursuit stems from genuine interest.

“People are always like, ‘Oh my goodness, you have a triple major. Like, you’re crazy.’ And I’m like, ‘yes,’” Power said. “But it has absolutely been worth it because I love what I’m learning.”

When Power came to Trinity in 2021, she planned to work for the U.S. Department of State after graduation. Power’s understanding of what she really wanted developed as she explored her interests.

“I came in wanting to do work for the State Department,” Power said. “And I’ve come out of it wanting to go work for U.N. peacekeeping. The classes that I was taking really made me realize I wanted to get into conflict resolution and peace building.”

Power values when personal learning grows alongside academic development. She said that interdisciplinary studies in Spanish and political science have helped inform and prepare her to do the diplomatic work she’s passionate about.

“It’s been really nice to get different perspectives on the same thing … You learn about the history of colonialism and how it affects and manifests today in the United States and that’s been really helpful to get my brain geared up to talk about conflict resolution on a practical scale,” Power said.

Keyla Limones, sophomore political science, international studies and English triple-major, also highlighted the interconnected nature of different fields here at Trinity. Her three majors can be separate, but Limones finds they often inform one another in meaningful ways.

“English helps me develop my writing analytically and critically,” Limones said. “And every single thing we read in political science has to do with real-life instances.”

This intersectionality of disciplines is not always obvious at first glance. Lilly Broussard, junior math, physics and philosophy triple-major, finds philosophical complexities within the seemingly empirical field of physics.

“Philosophy does a lot in terms of how we explain the interactions of the universe — more so than I think people realize — that’s been really interesting to discover, especially going past the basic forces and mass times acceleration classes, and then you actually get deeper into ‘we don’t really know what’s going on’ and philosophy kind of informs our opinions on that,” Broussard said.

These three students show that exploring multiple academic paths can deepen understanding and help make connections between physics and philosophy or political science and Spanish.

“We’re able to more diversely think about topics and intersect them,” Limones said.

While the pursuit of three majors can offer a wide array of perspectives and develop analytical, technical, historical and practical prowess, how does one juggle all these academic endeavors and extracurriculars?

“There’s at least like a couple weeks of this semester where it’s overwhelming,” Power said. “I try to wake up as early as I can, so I can get some work done. But it gets easier as you go on.”

When it comes to handling academics, Power is an advocate for being proactive when you can. As a senior who is about to graduate however, she also firmly believes in staying engaged socially.

“I’ve realized like, hold on, you know, school is important and I’m learning good stuff, but that doesn’t mean much if I don’t have relationships to go with it,” Power said.

Broussard agrees that friends play a huge supportive role by keeping us accountable, even when school is a lot to handle.
“I think friends are a really big thing for me,” Broussard says, “Especially if you’re sitting late in the library at night and you kind of just wanna die, the best thing to do is have people around you who also wanna die and are also doing their work.”

While working very hard, Limones also emphasizes the importance of friends, family and community. When asked what will matter in the long run, Limones said:

“Those friendships that you make along the way, the incredible moments that you live in college of going to a museum, having a really great coffee, publishing your poem for the first time, going to an open mic and finding your people. I think those great achievements sometimes go unnoticed and I think people should celebrate that more often.”

Balancing school work and extracurriculars can be a hefty burden to carry, and sharing that experience with peers and engaging in your community, according to these students, can make a positive impact on that stress.

“I’ll tell you what my buddies who graduated last year told me. I have four weeks or something crazy low left, like five weeks. It’s like, soak it in, soak it in,” Power said. “Look around, take a deep breath. You can never go home again. So, while this is your home, make sure you cherish that. Because it’s about to be over for me, and you can’t get time back, so might as well start enjoying it now.”