I have known that I was going to major in political science since my freshman year of high school. I am, in many ways, a woman obsessed.

Politics offers a window into human behavior and nature. Understanding the political world and the choices within it can lead to a much deeper and richer understanding of life. It also gives me many opportunities to argue with people. All things I like.

I suppose even from a young age, I understood which aspects of politics I was most interested in studying. I was drawn toward comparative politics enough to take its AP course instead of U.S. Government and Politics. But really, that was the end of my thinking as to what exactly within politics I was going to study.

The specializations within majors and the focus of faculty are not things I believe the average undergraduate looks at when applying. I am pretty sure the most I did was pull up a list of the best colleges for political science—I certainly didn’t think about how a political science degree can look drastically different based on what sort of classes one takes.

The other day, I was standing with a group of friends who had all spent enough time in the Boston College political science department to discuss and analyze their feelings on various professors. It genuinely astounded me that I knew one or two names at most. 

I have been taking political science classes since my freshman year. The four that I am taking this semester are essentially just for fun, as I finished my major last year. But I barely knew who they were discussing.

Although specialization is not required within political science, by senior year, nearly all of us have found our niche. The peers I took my requirement classes with, I haven’t seen since freshman year. My friends and I have often given teacher recommendations we know won’t be accepted, because they don’t fit each other’s specialty.

Sometime in sophomore year, I chose to focus on international politics, and I have not looked back. But I do wonder what my academic interests would look like if I’d chosen another path. What would my favorite topics and professors be? Is there a chance I would find it more rewarding than what I currently study? 

To be clear, I adore international politics, and I’m very grateful for my knowledge of international security. But even within my specialty, there are certain things I tend to focus on. For instance, the BC political science department has something of a realism obsession. 

Every department at probably every college has biases that do not appear, or even occur to students, when applying. But the specialties and worldviews of each professor are nearly impossible to keep out of the classroom. And I do not think that is necessarily a bad thing. 

Studying realism at BC means interacting with professors with deep, intimate knowledge of their subject—professors who are experts in their field and sometimes even know the authors you read in class personally.

If I had gone to a school with a bias more toward liberalism, my study of international politics would probably look very different. The same goes for just about any of the four political science specializations. 

The ideological lean of a department is not only out of our hands, but something I doubt any of us knew when applying. Yet, it has shaped our education and, even imperceptibly, our views.

There is no way to escape this phenomenon, as just about every college department has some predisposition for a certain topic or line of study. There is still great debate and different viewpoints, but it is a trend worth noting. 

In a way, I suppose it limits a student’s ability to choose their specialty, as often a professor’s expertise sways students’ train of thought. Meanwhile, it also offers students the ability to revel in that same expertise. Students can fully commit themselves to learning a subject from those who are best at it, even if it means developing their own bias.

I do not regret any of the academic decisions I made that have led me to this point. I have an amazing base knowledge of the many disciplines of political science, but admittedly, I am much more confident in my knowledge of nuclear warfare than I am of the intricacies of constitutional law. It is fascinating to think about how, with just a handful of different choices, that would not be the case.