Graduating Senior Spotlight: Q&A with Greer Gentges

What is your favorite college memory?

Attending the Minnesota vs. Penn State football game in fall 2019.

What is your favorite class that you took in CLA? Is there a professor that you particularly enjoyed working with? How did they prepare you for the next phase of your life?

POL 3323 - Political Tolerance in the United States with Kati Mohammad-Zadeh was my favorite CLA class. The class sparked my interest in political psychology. Mohammad-Zadeh was a wonderful professor and made class interesting and fun while applying our lessons to current world issues and events. I also took her Politics and Society in New Europe course, which was a fantastic class for students in any major who would like to learn about political and intergovernmental systems outside of the US.  

Why is a liberal arts education important to you?

I came into my freshman year with no idea what I wanted to do in the future. CLA allowed me to explore any option that was remotely interesting to me, which included earth science, history, classical and Near Eastern studies, political science, geography, and much more. I am glad I came into college undecided, because I was able to explore many subjects and find a good fit for myself. I also liked how flexible my majors were; they each only required 35 major credits, so I was able to double major and minor, as well as take some random fun classes in my extra time.

If you could go back and give your first-year self one piece of advice, what would it be?

Don't give up on a goal before giving it a try. Before I even started classes my first year, I decided against pursuing a major that was pretty science heavy, because I thought I was bad at science. I am very happy with where I ended up, but I wish I had given myself a real shot at my first choice option, even if it meant getting a bad grade in freshman chemistry or calculus I. With that said, CLA allowed me to take a few science courses that were particularly interesting to me while still staying on track with my other majors.

If you could be any member on a TV show, who would you be?

My favorite show lately has been Abbott Elementary, so I would like to be one of the teachers on that show. Janine, Jacob, and Ava would be hilarious coworkers.  

What's next for you? What are your post-graduation plans?

I will be attending the University of Wisconsin Law School in the fall!