Graduating Senior Spotlight: Q&A with Isabel Schindler

Did you participate in any student organizations, Learning Abroad programs, research or internship opportunities, or other related experiences? How have you learned from them?

Last year, I received the Mulhollem Cravens Leadership Scholarship to fund my summer internship with the Minneapolis nonprofit, The Advocates for Human Rights. During my time there, I was able to observe criminal court hearings in Hennepin, Ramsey, and Washington Counties as well as conduct research on right-wing extremism in Austria, Serbia, the Netherlands, and Peru. Since my internship, I have stayed with the Advocates as a part-time employee. I feel incredibly lucky to do work that I feel passionate about and to be involved in an organization that is making a positive global impact.

I am also currently a senior editor for Midwestern Citizen, which is an undergraduate publication with writers based all over the country (and a few from UMN)! I'm grateful for the opportunity to write about topics that are important to me, and it's been rewarding to see eight of my articles published. Some of my favorite topics to write about are criminal justice reform, social theory, and constitutional law. For the last few months, I have only been editing, but it's still a lot of fun getting to read different articles every week. I always learn something new. 

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?

Shoutout to Professor Gabrielle Ferrales for having me every semester since fall 2021! My first class of hers was SOC 3102 - Criminal Behavior and Social Control, which quickly convinced me to declare a Sociology LCJ major. I have loved every one of her classes, and it has been a blast working as a TA for her.

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

Expectations are nothing more than expectations. Obvious, I know, but I definitely could've used this reminder. 

If you had the world's attention for 30 seconds, what would you say?

I would say absolutely nothing. How crazy would that be if the world was completely silent for 30 seconds?!

Is there an app you hate but use anyways?

I've had a love-hate relationship with pretty much every app I've used, but the most volatile relationship has been with TikTok. I don't think there will ever be an app capable of hijacking my attention as reliably—and for as long—as TikTok is able to. I'm proud to say that I've had the app deleted from my phone for over a year, but it's been replaced with "Block Puzzle 100.” I resent the fact that a puzzle app can steal my attention so easily, but I guess it's better than the alternative. So yes, I continue to use it even though I hate it.

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

Next up is more school! I'm thrilled (and slightly terrified) to be starting law school at Northwestern this fall. As for this summer, I'm looking forward to spending extra time with my pets.