In Episode 0 of Season 2, our new co-hosts Zoe and Sonal interview each other about their lives and current experiences navigating life at Mason and in their senior year.
Sonal: Welcome to season two of CHSS Connection, a podcast where we interview different students about all things CHSS, from academics to careers to everything in between. If you're wondering who would make a podcast about chess, that's actually not the CHSS we're talking about. We're referring to the College of Humanities and Social Sciences here at Mason. This is a student success podcast by chess students for chess students. And even if you aren't a CHSS student, we're happy to have you here. I'm one of your hosts, Sonal Prakash, a senior communications major with a concentration in journalism and a minor in marketing. Zoe: And I'm your other host, Zoe Nix. And I'm a senior foreign language major with a concentration in Korean and a minor in computer game design. We're so excited to pick up where last season's hosts left off, and to help you get to know our new voices better. We're going to spend this intro episode interviewing each other and explaining a bit about what you can expect from the season. So to start off, let's try out why Mason? Why did you choose Mason, Sonal? Sonal: You know, oh my god, I'm going to have to like go back in time, like what, 4 or 5 years? Jeez. When I was making my decision in high school, I actually wanted to be a film student, and I applied to Mason, specifically for the film program, and I got in. And it's, honestly, the best film school that I found in Virginia and so at the time, that was like my main motivation, I guess, and it was close to home. It's nice to be near home. I didn't really want to go too far yet. Yet. Keyword. But yeah. What about you? Why did you choose Mason? Zoe: Crazy story. I actually started out as a film student too, so that's something we have in common. Sonal: That's crazy. Are we just finding that out for the first time? That's really funny. Zoe: Sort of. It was the best one in Virginia that I found, too. Sonal: Yeah. Zoe: And I also sort of knew about Mason because I had a teacher in high school whose daughter came here, and she went to Mason, Korea, and that was such a big thing for me. I was like, I want to go. I want to go. So I chose Mason because of that campus and also the film department. Sonal: Yeah. So now that makes a lot of sense. I've heard Mason Korea is amazing and beautiful. Zoe: Absolutely incredible. Sonal: Yeah. Did you go there? Zoe: Yes. Sonal: Have you, what was your experience like? Zoe: Oh, it was awesome. Like, I've made so many friends. Like Madi, who works here at the MIX, she's a Mason Korea student. So I met her there, and I really sort of found out what I wanted to do with myself because I was not a computer game design minor until I went there and was like, I actually really enjoy this. Sonal: That’s really cool. Zoe: Yes. Sonal: What made you- what did you see there or do there that made you choose computer game design? That's so interesting. Zoe: A majority of the students that I actually became friends with, they were computer game design minors and -er majors, I mean, but I enjoyed the classwork as well because, sitting around them, I'd hear about their classroom experiences, and I did some game classes, for my minor and really enjoyed the work that I did with those classes. Sonal: So that's really cool. Zoe: So how did you choose your major? Sonal: Well, as I said, I was originally a film student, but after a few years in the film program, I, I don't know, I just didn't feel like it was the best fit for me. I wasn't like, gelling 100% with, you know, the actual content that I was creating. And I was really into storytelling, but I, I knew this wasn't the right way. This wasn't exactly what I wanted to do. So I kind of went back to the drawing board and thought about it a lot more. And I remembered that in high school, I really liked doing broadcast journalism, and it was just an amazing experience to be able to tell stories, especially at that age, having that kind of power and being able to share those things. It just thinking about it honestly reminded me of how much fun I was having. And so I was like, okay, let me try going back for journalism. And I was a little bit hesitant. You know, my first semester coming back with a different major. But after the first semester, thanks especially to like my professors, shout out Professor Maloney, definitely helped encourage me a lot and confirmed that that was the right path for me. Zoe: That's awesome. I'm glad that you're on the right path now. Sonal: Yeah. Zoe: Yes and that you’re here. Sonal: Yeah. And you, as well. Zoe: Yeah. Sonal: Sometimes it takes us a while to get there, but it's okay. What about you? How did you end up going to Korean? Zoe: So I did one semester as a film student. Decided that I much more enjoyed that as a hobby over, like, a professional thing. So I'd been taking a Korean 110 class. And so it's really thanks to my professor, Professor Kim Daeyong, he's awesome, that I was like, I think I would like to do this as my major. And so I've just sort of been here ever since. I did try and add on an additional major at one point. I tried to do Global Affairs too. Sonal: Oh, yeah. Zoe: So that was way too overwhelming. Yeah, I like to that anymore. Sonal: Yeah. I have a lot of respect for double majors because it is a lot. For what? Zoe: Overwhelming. Yeah. Sonal: Yeah. Okay. So I guess other than Korean and game design, what else are you passionate about? Is there anything else you care about? Zoe: I really like to write and come up with, like, stories and stuff. So that was one of my big areas. Like when I was becoming a film major, I was like, that's what I want to focus on is like the editing and the story sort of department. That's what I most like about game design as well. The- when I play a video game, I’m mostly playing and mostly playing for the story elements alongside, like how the game plays, but it's mostly the story that draws me in. So I'm very passionate about, like the story writing side of things and coming up with my own adventures and whatnot. Sonal: I love that. I was just about to say I also only the only like like video games I really play or computer games I play a half. They have to have an interesting story or like some kind of cool plot or interesting character, like something that is creating like a world or... Yeah, story building. Right? Like world building. I feel like that. Like, yeah, I never understood games that were just like, I don't even know how to describe. How would you how would you describe that kind of game? Like- like something that doesn't have a story? Zoe: Yeah. Like, no hate to like Valorant or like League of Legends or anything like that. Sonal: Yeah. Zoe: There's not really like characters- the characters have story, but it's not why the game is being played. Sonal: Right. So it's like, and you can't progress through the story in no way like the story has nothing to do with the gameplay. They don't interact at all. So yeah, that makes sense. I mean, I am unashamedly also a Valorant player, but, only for only for stress relief. Zoe: That’s fair, that’s fair. Sonal: Honestly, I'm not there for the story. Zoe: I've played it a couple times and I've mostly every time I play, I'm like, oh, that character looks pretty. And like.. Sonal: Yeah, like- I'm like, wow, it looks pretty. Oh, the graphics are so nice. I'm like, oh, like, yeah, actually that is what draws me to games is like how smooth they are. Zoe: True. Sonal: Yeah. Zoe: Who's your main in Valorant? Sonal: Oh, I was a viper main. But it's been a while since I've played, like, I want to say, like, it's been a few months, so I'm out of practice, but.. Zoe: My friends always put me on, I think her name is Sage? Sonal: Yeah. Zoe: Not that I was very good. I died like right off the bat most of the time. Sonal: That's fine.That's why you play in a team and then the people will carry you. Hopefully. So everybody has to start somewhere. Zoe: Yeah. All right. So what are you passionate about? Sonal: Well, like I said, storytelling, but beyond that, I guess I care about people, like, I just, I like that stories, get us, like, closer to people. So, like, any, anything that has to do with, like, meeting new people or learning something about someone's story or hearing their stories. Those things, like, make me, like, feel alive. Like I feel like that's, like, really what I'm passionate about. And that's why I- yeah, I love journalism so much because I love being able to share real stories. I think, honestly, that was like a big thing for me between.. that distinguished film and journalism is that film is a little more creative. There's some creative license, but journalism is all about the real world and the truth and the real things that are happening. You know? So I think that felt more impactful to me, like, I care. Yeah, I care about like impacting people. Like I really want to.. Yeah. Zoe: That’s awesome. That’s awesome. We’re like- I'm like, I like the creative liberties side of things. And you're like, I want to tell.. like what matters. Sonal: Yeah. And that's that's a really good balance that like you need to have, but you can't have one without the other. Zoe: For sure. Yeah. Sonal: Because I think honestly the creative things you have to do to carry out the story and in order to carry out the story you have to do creative things. You know? Zoe: Exactly. But you need some sort of like realism in there to like make it all make sense, like logically. Sonal: Right. Yeah. It should be logical. Zoe: Yeah. Sonal: Yeah, I'm seeing way too many movies these days that are like about some superhero, some alien, this nonsense that I'm like, mmm okay. I don't know exactly what's happening here. Zoe: Or like the plot will like you know, it'll lead up to this like event where it's like there's nothing you can do about that. Sonal: Yeah. Zoe: But they’ll come up with the most illogical plan that should not work ever and it works. Sonal: It's like, did you see Fantastic Four Zoe: I haven't. Sonal: Oh my God, that was.. That's the first movie I think of when I hear that because like, it was like the world's ending, the world is ending. And then at the last second, it was like the baby, I think. So, I don't know, it was like, save the world, I guess. Zoe: That's what I've heard is the baby- the baby does that. Sonal: Yeah. Zoe: Like in Squid Games. Sonal: Literally. So where are you from originally and how do you feel like that's kind of shaped who you are? Zoe: So I'm from Rocky Mount, Virginia which is very far south from here about four hours south. Sonal: Wow. Zoe: It's about 20 minutes south of Roanoke. And, it's very, very like country, like.. Sonal: I can imagine. Zoe: ..rural sort of vibe down there. So, it's been nice coming up here because I've been enjoying city life a lot more. We don't have busses in Rocky Mount. Like the entire summer, I just stayed home because I don't have a driver's license. So unless somebody like offered to drive me somewhere, I was just home the whole time. Sonal: Oh my gosh, you don't have- there's no like, public transportation? Zoe: No public transportation. Sonal: That's so, so interesting. Zoe: Yeah. But, so I've very much enjoyed city life. I think that's where I want to end up is in a city. So growing up there is definitely made me realize that. Where are you from? Sonal: Well, I am a Nova native, actually, so I grew up in Sterling, Virginia and northern County. And honestly, being in Northern Virginia, like I realized only probably very recently actually, that this is a very.. it's like a pocket. It's like a bubble, almost like where the things that happen here are like, not happening in other places, or like the kind of like mindset that people have here is like super competitive because they know there's all these opportunities nearby. There's.. they know there's all these great schools. And so the better your resources, the better your opportunity is, like the more competitive you are for those things. Zoe: Right. Sonal: So yeah, that was definitely something that once I realized like how it was different, how other people from other states and other even just different parts of Virginia. Zoe: Right. Sonal: Like from like southern Virginia or the beach or whatever they always seem- and this goes for you as well- like you just seem a little bit more slightly calm, like you seem like grounded, a little more like you're like, you're taking it. You'll take your time to do something like, but here I feel like it's like, go, go, go. Zoe: Yeah. Sonal: Like you have to always be doing something and being better and studying for this, or doing the next thing, the next school or the next job or you know. So I feel like that's made me definitely like very ambitious. And it's definitely made me very stressed, very anxious also. But, I think it's good. It really like it drives me to, you know, do big things and I want to do big things anyway, so I'm okay. Zoe: So communications major, what do you want to do with this in the future? Sonal: Well, what I really want to do in the future is, you know, make stories that impact people. And honestly, that is very vague and can mean a lot of things. It can be, you know, I'm really open to doing anything multimedia, documentary, even like writing and written articles, written news. I think I want to do a little bit of everything, honestly. Zoe: Yeah. Sonal: Like I'm really still feeling out my options, but I know that, well, my goal is really to have a wide enough skill set that I can kind of jump around between anything in communications and even marketing. Like that's why that's my minor. I kind of want to be able to like, dabble in that as well, or, you know, like the intersection between those things like journalism, marketing and things like that. So I kind of want to, I don't know, explore a little bit and see because honestly, nowadays there's.. there's jobs that we would not have imagined and we couldn't even think of that being a real thing or like even five years ago. So I'm excited to see, you know, what new and interesting things there are. And I have a feeling I'm going to find something weirdly niche and oddly specific, but, you know, that's, maybe that was right for me. So I think that's what I'm looking for. Zoe: Do you have like a top three? Like, if these jobs were available for me specifically tomorrow, like, what would you pick? Sonal: Oh, God. Honestly, like any, producer at, like, anywhere. NatGeo, New York Times, like Politico. I would love Politico. Oh my God, there's so many options. I'm like, I'd honestly even love to do like, documentaries for like, Netflix or Amazon or something like that. You know, I'm not really holding myself to any one specific like form, but I, I want to produce. I want to be kind of like in an a job where I'm doing more like, high level oversight and like, production planning and stuff like that. Rather than nitpicky details. You know, I'm not as good with that. I'm a big picture kind of person. Zoe: Yeah. Sonal: I definitely like to think of, you know, the future and where is this going and what our goal like, you know, how do we get there. Long term strategies. So I think that's kind of where my skills lie. At least. What about you? I was going to say for Korean I there's actually I, I'm so interested to know actually what you would do with that because- well I'll let you answer. I'm just thinking.. I'm like- my brain is like immediately like, oh my God, what could you do with that? I'll let you answer. Zoe: I don't really have it narrowed down to like, what I want to do. It's sort of like, I know that I want to end up in Korea at some point, like live there for a while because spending a year and a half there, Mason Korea, I realized that, like, I really like the community. I really like the people, the experiences, all of that. So I definitely want to end up there at some point. So I know the best way to get there would be by maybe teaching English in Korean schools. Sonal: That's a good idea. Zoe: I did a program actually there. It was like English 300, which is like literature for the public, where we would go to like middle schools and help them read in English. And they had to, like, talk to us only in English. And that was a lot of fun. Sonal: That's really cool. Zoe: So yeah. So I'd like maybe to do something like that just to start off with, there is also like translation work for like companies or restaurants or stuff like that, like people who- maybe like a video game. I think that would be super cool because the video game industry is getting really big over there, so like working for a company to like, help translate their games or make it accessible, that would be a lot of fun. I think. Again, not narrowing down anything in specific just yet, but something in that area would be a lot of fun. Sonal: That's really cool. Again, like, yeah, the intersection between your major and minor is like.. Zoe: Yeah. Sonal: That's similar to what I'm doing. That's really cool. I don't think.. now that I'm thinking about it, I don't know if I've met other language majors before. Zoe: I've only ever met Korean majors, but that's just- Sonal: Makes sense. Zoe: -in those classes, right? But most of the people that I meet that are taking language classes, they're doing it as like a requirement for, like, something else, but yeah. Sonal: Yeah. For the college or something like. Yeah, well, this is our last year. I mean, we're seniors, so what do you want to get out of it? Zoe: Good question. I'm actually part of the BAM program, which is the like Bachelor's Accelerated Masters. So I'll be here for another year, which is okay. All right. So much fun. I love you, Mason. Sonal: You love it so much. You just can't leave. Zoe: Wow. Like I can’t go, but, so I'm hoping to get a bunch more of, like, master's credits out of the way and have them stored up for when I actually do start my masters. I also want to spend a bunch of time with my friends, because this semester most of my friends are graduating, so I’m by myself next semester, which is going to be great. So, this semester will probably be fun time, and the next semester is just like, look for jobs, lock in time, I start prepping my thesis for Masters, that sort of thing. But, hopefully have a lot more experiences, fun experiences. Do well with this job, I hope. I hope we do good by this podcast. Sonal: Well, you're doing great so far. Zoe: You as well! What about you? What are you hoping to get out of this year? Sonal: Honestly, I just want to, like, take advantage of all the resources and opportunities that are here at Mason, because I feel that as a student, I didn't always take advantage of all those resources. And I am realizing that as my time is coming to an end, I fear that like, what am I going to do when these resources are all gone? Like, there's going to be no way to like, go back and make any connections or do anything like that. So I want to honestly make as many like connections with people, at Mason as I can, like, network and honestly and just, yeah, take advantage of events and people being around and project opportunities and clubs and organizations. Honestly, anything that I have the time and energy for, I want to try and get myself involved. Maybe that’s a good way to describe what I'm, what I'm hoping to do. Because, yeah, I feel like I wasn't always the most, like, involved student on campus. Even when I lived on campus, like freshman year, I feel like I wasn't super into things as much as I could be, like into exploring everything at Mason as much as I could have been. So I'm going to try and make up for that in my last year. Hopefully. Sonal: So we are onto our rapid fire round. We've got a bunch of questions here that are short and sweet, but we will probably make a lot out of. Zoe: Yeah. All right. First one early bird or night owl? Sonal: I'm going to say early bird, but I'm an occasional night owl. I'll say that. I'll say a weekend night owl. Maybe. Zoe: I'm going to say night owl for me, but lately, I am neither. I cannot wake up in the morning and I go to bed at like 10 P.M.. Oh my God, it's so bad. But I definitely get a lot more done at night than I do in the morning. So I'll go with Night Owl. Sonal: Okay, you know what? That's actually interesting because I do feel like I'm more productive later in the day, but I just like, oh, well, I guess I'm, I don't know that I would, consider myself a morning person because when I first wake up, I, I'm a monster. I'm like, I'm pissed off at everything. Like, I read everything, but then like ten minutes later, then I'm okay. And then I like my mornings, and I like when there's less people awake and bothering me. And I have, like, some time and peace and quiet to, like, do things. All right. Next one. Cats or dogs? Zoe: Oh, man, I like both, but I think if I were to choose one as like a pet, I would go for a cat. Like, I do love dogs. I walk a dog in the mornings for an older guy, and she's the sweetest thing ever. But I'd have to say, I think I'd want to live with a cat. So yeah. How about you? Sonal: I have to say the honestly very similar answer. I do love dogs. And if I was like, you know, five years ago or six years ago, maybe even I would have said dogs. But I've recently become a cat person. I think I didn't get them when I was like a young and hyper child who wanted to like, play with things, but now I'm like, oh, I kind of like this relationship that you'll just we'll just hang out for a little bit and then you can go do your thing and I'll go do my thing and it's fine, and then we'll come back later and I'll, you know, hang out again like that. That's that's the right amount of, closeness with an animal for me. I like it. Zoe: Okay. Text or call? Sonal: I'm a caller, honestly, like, I, I do be texting a lot, but. But I prefer to call, just because it's, I don't know, I think I have, like, a real conversation. And I feel like these days it's hard to, like, text somebody in real time and they're actually responding to you Zoe: True, true. Sonal: So it doesn't feel like as real of a conversation. So, I'm gonna say call. What about you? Zoe: I lean more towards text because calling is just. I like panic when I see that I've got a call on my phone. Unless, like my parents or my grandma, because I'm like, I kind of have to call you, but I'm.. But with friends, I definitely prefer text, even though sometimes I don't answer, like you were saying, having a real time conversation. But I also like the ability to be able to rethink what I said. Sonal: That is true. Yeah, I do like texting for that. Like, I feel like my thoughts are more clear and like, articulate and like if I had something relevant to say, I'll actually think about it and say it versus like on the phone. Sometimes I like forget. Yeah. And I'm like, so I'm so busy, like listening to the other person that I like, forget what I was going to say. All right. Foods.. Sweet or savory? Zoe: Lately it's savory. Like, I.. I like sweet, but savory. I love chips, I love cheese, I love anything salty. So definitely has to be savory this time around. What about you? Sonal: I was gonna.. I know I wrote this question, but can I add a third option and say spicy? Yeah, I like it because I think that's that's my my favorite category. Like, even beyond savory, like spicy. My favorite category of food is spicy I think. Zoe: Got to go for savory, spicy maybe mix the two sometimes too. And then sweets. Okay. Window or aisle seat? Sonal: I'm always going to be a window, window seat person. Like I will actually I'll just hold my pee the whole time so I don't have to crawl over there lap. Zoe: Same. Sonal: I would prefer.. just the windows are too good. I need something to like lean my head on, otherwise I can't. Zoe: I'm the same way. Like my flights to Korea. Like I got window seat once and I was like, I can't ever go back. This is.. this is perfect. Sonal: Yeah. Well, yeah, once you have that luxury once, then you're like, I can't give it up. Zoe: And then and then you try and book another window seat and they're all taken. Sonal: Yeah. Oh, no. What if I show up on the day and then, like, bribe them? Zoe: Hey, give me your seat. Sonal: Yeah, please. All right. Last song you listen to? Zoe: Oh. Good question. Sonal: I might have to check. Actually. Zoe: Same. My entire feed is just K-pop, so it's probably going to be some obscure.. Sonal: Oh, you know what, I, I actually I'll go first because you reminded me. I know what song I listened to last. It was a K-pop song. SaWaDiKa by Lalisa. Zoe: Oh, that's a good one. I like that, I like that. Sonal: I remember is it Lalisa or just Lisa? Zoe: I think Lalisa is like her birth name, I think, but Lisa I think is her stage name, but. Sonal: Oh yeah. Interesting. That has been like stuck in my head. So that came to mind very easily once you said that. Zoe: Yeah. Sonal: Because I'm not normally like a K-Pop listener, but I'll, I'll dabble here and there. Yes. Zoe: For me, I'm very strict. I stick with one genre usually, but, for me it was Kill Bill by Brown Eyed Girls. Sonal: Very good song. Zoe: Yes. The most used app on your phone. What is it? Sonal: You know, I'm gonna.. I'm gonna guess that it's Spotify without having to look at my, like, screen. It's great. I'm. I feel like there's no app that I open more often in, like, over the course of a single day than Spotify. I'm always listening to music, in the car, walking from car to class, sometimes in class. Not actually, but like, I'm always playing music, so I would, I would think Spotify is probably. Zoe: For me it would be between Spotify and Instagram. Like, I'm always scrolling reels, so it's a bit of a problem. Sonal: Oh, actually, you know what? It might be a tie for me between Spotify and Pinterest. I'm scrolling on Pinterest a lot. Zoe: Pinterest just like encourages you to scroll more. I know I was like, I need to like do something else. I'm like, one more scroll. Sonal: Just so beautiful. Like you just can't help yourself from looking. Zoe: Gotta look like at them all. Sonal: For free? Why not? Zoe: I recently discovered how to turn off the like AI suggested pins. Yeah, I figured out how to turn them off so I'm I'm very happy about that. Sonal: You know what? I think I need to do that because I, I'm afraid I'm becoming like the next boomer and I cannot tell. What’s AI and what’s not? Zoe: Yeah. Sonal: And there’s like some, some things are obvious. So. But like. Zoe: Yeah there's obvious ones and then there's like ones that are like, is that really like how like oh my gosh, it's crazy. Sonal: And the videos? I'm like, how can a video be so smooth? Zoe: Right. Sonal: Yeah. I was like, oh my God. I remember seeing a video of recently of like, I don't know, some cat doing some funny thing. And I was like, oh my God, that's so cute and funny. I was like showing it to like my friends, like, oh my God, look at that. And then I open the comments. All the comments are like, this is AI, if you don't know, this is AI like you're done for. And I'm like, oh man, for a while, that's me. Zoe: For a while there I couldn't like trust like ring doorbell videos that are uploaded to Instagram because I was able to, like, mimic the quality of like the night vision. Sonal: Yes. Yeah. Zoe: So I was like I was like watching ones that I'm thinking are cute. And then the comments are just like, that's AI. Sonal: That's AI yeah. Yeah. It is always like security cameras or something. It's like they do like, yeah, they're making it very well. So it feels real. It's not like someone's phone is like, yeah, wow. Zoe: It's like I'll come across a perfect video and it's just nope. Can't, can't say I liked that. Sonal: Yeah, that's of it's horrible. Yeah. It's worse when I find out I like something and then I'm like oh God I like something. That was a stab in the heart. Zoe: Yeah. Sonal: That was everything. Zoe: That was all our questions. Sonal: Yeah I was gonna say I feel like I know you better now, and you know me. And I feel like our audience should know us better. And I feel like that was a good overview. Zoe: Yes. We've discovered things about each other. Sonal: Yeah. Discovered some similarities, some complementary aspects. Zoe: Indeed. Zoe: And now for the bulletin board. This is a segment where we shout out events happening within CHSS and the Mason community that you can attend and enjoy. Sonal: First up, we have the monthly CHSS Ambassadors who will be at kiosk A in the Johnson Center from 3 to 5 p.m. on October 6th. Zoe: On October 7th, the CHSS Mid-term De-stress event will be held in the Horizon Atrium, which is right outside of the MIX from 12 to 2 p.m. Sonal: Also happening in the Horizon Atrium the next day, October 8th, is the Link-Up event career mentoring with alumni mentors. That's 5:30 to 7 p.m. Zoe: Last on our list, the Fall for the Book Festival will be occurring October 6th through the 10th. Check out fallforthebook.org for more information regarding headliners and how to attend. Sonal: Now we know you want to hear all about what season two is going to entail, so let's get into what listeners can expect. This season is going to run a lot like season one, but if you didn't tune in, that's okay. We're going to walk you through it. Zoe: Each major we focus on will get a variety of episodes from ones of reviewing the major, to ones honing in on specific experiences and even whole episodes about career readiness and opportunities. We'll have special guests, including fellow students or faculty members, and correspondent pieces featuring important resources and knowhow. Sonal: But we'd also like to hear your thoughts and questions that you might have for future guests or episodes. Please send us your ideas or even request to be in an episode by emailing us at CHSSpod@GMU.edu. Zoe: If you enjoyed the show and would like to express your support, there are a few things you can do. You can leave a review wherever you're listening to this podcast. You can help by word of mouth either by telling someone directly who might be interested in the show or posting about it on social media, tagging @CHSSpod. All these things help support the show, and we appreciate anyone who has done so or will do so in the future. Sonal: We hope you'll join us for our first official episode next week, where Elias is going to tell us all about how he's navigated the world of being an English major and finding community within it. Zoe: Thank you for listening to this episode of CHSS Connection. This podcast is hosted and written by Sonal Prakash and Zoe Nix, our audio engineer is Danis Gabitov, and our supervisor is Eleana Velasco. This podcast is produced by George Mason University College of Humanities and Social Sciences Undergraduate Academic Affairs. Special thanks to the Mason Innovation Exchange for access to the recording studio. The podcast could not happen without them. Sonal: This project was developed in collaboration with Career Services and the On Campus Internship program. If you love the show and want to interact with more of our content, follow us on Instagram @CHSSPod or check out the CHSS website where there's an ongoing library of our episodes. Zoe: Once again, thanks for tuning in and we hope you'll join us next time!