The Capstone Program allows for students like Emily McDermott ’19 to delve into an academic topic during their senior year. Photo by Praj Chirathivat/The Choate News
Imagine the ability to design your own Signature Program in almost any of your academic interests. That’s the Capstone Program. Designed for flexibility, the program allows a hard-working and devoted students to delve deeply into a topics of their choosing with the guidance of a faculty member. This year, 25 students are researching topics ranging from brand harmony in hotels to satirical plays. Here is a quick look into the projects of threewo seniors, Emily McDermott ’19 and Arsh Sekhon ’19.
For her project, Emily McDermott ’19 researched Choate female authors and read five different books, each from a different writer. She explained, “I am analyzing how women are most commonly portrayed in literature and how these Choate authors are unique in their portrayals of women.” One of the books she read was His Favorites by Kate Walbert ’79. McDermott is making sure to see how each author, including Walbert, portrays women in comparison with each other.
McDermott drew inspiration from her interests: literature and writing. However, she didn’t settle on a topic until the fall term of her senior year. “When I originally came up with the idea for my project, it was very broad, which was a good jumping off point,” she said. “I knew that I wanted to analyze how a group of people are portrayed in American literature.”
Although McDermott praised the independence the process gave her, she appreciated the help from faculty, specifically her adviser Dr. Cathryn Stout. “The program itself is relatively unstructured, and it is up to you and your adviser to monitor your progress and set goals and deadlines for you to meet.” She continued, “Dr. [Cathryn] Stout has been instrumental in narrowing down the scope of my project and providing structure for such a long and fluid process.”
McDermott recommends the Capstone program for any student who has a particular interest in a specific field and is willing to dive deeper.
Sekhon ’19 is also in the process of completing her Capstone, but is taking a different route. The topic she’s revolving around is how racism, the law, and social justice in the United States intersect. Sekhon spent the summer before her senior year doing research by reading and studying. She contacted authors and researchers who are experts in the topic to help her better understand aspects of her project. So far, she’s done a workshop for the Seeking Education Equity & Diversity (SEED) faculty group based on her topic and the psychological aspect of it. Now that the end of the academic year is approaching, she’s working on putting her final presentation together.
The process of Sekhon’s project, like McDermott’s, has been gradual. “My project has gone from just a research project to a full blown social justice, educational project that I’ve used to educate others,” she said. Her adviser, Ms. Amy Howland, was a great help in the process, as well as the teachers on campus who teach courses related to her project.
From the beginning, Sekhon enjoyed the “flexibility and freedom” the program allowed her. She recommends the program for dedicated students, especially if they are interested in pursuing a career in their topic, like she’s doing. “It’s such a rare opportunity that I believe all rising seniors who are interested and passionate enough about a certain topic should apply. You can do it on anything, you just have to make a plan,” she said.
Sekhon is also in the process of completing her Capstone but is taking a different route. Focusing on the intersectionality of racism, the law, and social justice in the United States, Sekhon spent the summer before her senior year doing research by reading and studying. She contacted authors and researchers who are experts in the topic to help her better understand aspects of her project. So far, she’s done a workshop for the Seeking Education Equity & Diversity (SEED) faculty group based on her topic and the psychological aspect of it. Now that the end of the academic year is approaching, she’s working on putting her final presentation together.
The process of Sekhon’s project, like McDermott’s, has been gradual. “My project has gone from just a research project to a full blown social justice, educational project that I’ve used to educate others,” she shared. Her adviser, Ms. Amy Howland, was a great help in the process, as well as the teachers on campus who teach courses related to her project.
From the beginning, Sekhon enjoyed the “flexibility and freedom” the program allowed her. She recommends the program for dedicated students, especially if they are interested in pursuing a career in their topic, like she’s doing. “It’s such a rare opportunity that I believe all rising seniors who are interested and passionate enough about a certain topic should apply. You can do it on anything, you just have to make a plan,” she said.
Karas’s project is quite different, focusing on how hotels create brand harmony through the synergy of design, marketing, and operational systems through a consumer and organization psychological lens.
To structure his time, Karas works on his Capstone for at least ten to fifteen minutes each day. He uses this time to “read, write notes, or develop surveys.” He also received help from his adviser, Ms. Tiffany Kornegay, and other faculty members in the HPRSS Department such as Ms. Nicholas Paul and Mr. Jim Davidson.
The Capstone process has been very informative and exciting for Karas, especially because he’s always been interested in the hotel industry and psychology. Through his project, he was able to connect the two. He commented that “the coolest part was reaching out to General Managers in Bhutan, Cambodia, and Chile.”
Karas, like McDermott and Sekhon, highly recommends the program to students who are very interested in a specific topic. Make sure to see all of the students in the program present their final projects in May!
