Preparing for Foreign Service

For a recent research project, Stephanie Stawicki '04 (right) has been gathering materials for a professor's book on the experiences of Russian soldiers and civilians during World War I. She used a variety of databases at Skillman Library in collaborating as an EXCEL Scholar with Joshua Sanborn, assistant professor of history.

Stawicki, who is pursuing a dual major in International Affairs and Russian & East European Studies, compiled information in a computer program to organize the sources and wrote abstracts to assist Sanborn in determining which ones were pertinent to his book.

"Not only did I learn more about World War I, Russia's tumultuous transition from aristocracy to totalitarianism, and the societal effects resulting from World War I and the Russian Revolution," she says, "I gained invaluable research skills that will benefit me at Lafayette and beyond."

Stawicki had the opportunity to visit that part of the world during January when she took Sanborn's interim course, Russia and Poland: Past and Present. She believes that his mentoring and instruction will help her as she furthers her education in graduate school and vies for a career in the Foreign Service. "Studying the history of the region has contributed to my understanding of current social and political struggles in the area," she adds.

A Writing Associate, Stawicki participated in the European Union Simulation in Washington, D.C. She is an Adopt-a-Grandparent volunteer and member of Lafayette Christian Fellowship. A tour guide for admissions, she has also served as student program coordinator for Open House and Prologue programs.