Vicarious pleasure

Follow Adrienne Baker's senior year through her online blog

Senior Adrienne Baker

Photo by Patrick O'Leary

By Adrienne Baker

From M, fall 2005

There are many ways I could introduce myself to you. In the seventh grade, my favorite way of getting to know a person was to ask, "What kitchen utensil best represents you?" To describe myself, I usually chose a whisk--an almost magical tool that can literally change the composition of an egg or cream. This answer is particularly revealing of the one thing I've always known I want to do with my life--change the world. While it may take a bit of "whisk magic," I believe it's possible to transform struggling communities through words and education.

My name is Adrienne Baker and how to get started, when it comes to changing the world, has rapidly growing significance for me--I'm a senior on the Twin Cities campus and graduation is a short eight months away.

I'm excited to share those with you as the year goes on through weekly blog--a sort of online diary that also gives you the chance to comment on my thoughts and decisions.

I'm a journalism and cultural studies comparative literature major in the College of Liberal Arts Honors Program and over the past three years, I've participated in the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Business Reporting Program in New York and been a reporting intern at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer Press, and The Business Journal.

My interests in cultural studies inspired me to study abroad in Buenos Aires last spring semester and I recently volunteered at culturally diverse Roosevelt Senior High School in South Minneapolis to help faculty and students produce the school's newspaper.

This school year I'm faced with a variety of major tasks: deciding on a topic and writing my senior honors thesis, taking the GRE, potentially choosing a graduate school, and applying for jobs and deciding where I want to be and what I want to do.

I know there are endless challenges and opportunities out there for me and I can't wait to get started. I'm excited to share my year with you through a weekly blog--a sort of online diary that also gives you the chance to comment on my thoughts and decisions.

So please visit "Adrienne's Senior Year" to check on my progress. See you there!

Adrienne