Favorite Honors Experience (Most Recent Contract):

Introduction: 

Through completing courses at IUI, I have gained further perspective in the field I hope to pursue a career in, public policy. In that regard, I decided to take a class that was not a requirement for either my major or minor, but I thought would challenge me and solidify my decision for said career. This course is called Social Problems and it discussed the systematic reasons for why in which social issues occur and are perpetuated in society. I chose to complete an honors contract for this course due to my fascination with the course material and my curiosity to explore other types of research pertaining to the course. My specific honors contract was a research paper meant to expand on the sociological intersection between gender and race, in regards to health and access to healthcare. 

Via the link that says "Honors Contract Link" you can read my research paper on this topic.

Through this honors experience, I was able to gain both new skills and competencies related to research, communication, and the study of sociology. 
Some of these skills include: 
- Navigating research databases to acquire primary and credible sources for my topic  
- Analyzing peer-reviewed research articles to further examine my thesis and provide credible evidence to support my arguments
- Accurately articulating the evidence that supports my thesis 
- Expanding upon my knowledge of the course material and creating connections related to my new found research statistics
- Ensuring a strong understanding of the sociological intersections present between race, gender, and their relation to health