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The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter.

This Friday, my senior capstone paper is due, and I will give a presentation on it during finals week. I will be happy when it is over because then I do not have to stress about it anymore, but I will also be sad when it comes to an end.

My capstone is about the effects of abortion messaging on the 2022 midterm election voter turnout rates. I chose this topic last fall semester because abortion is one of my most important political issues, and we were told to pick something that we could see ourselves working on for the next few semesters. Abortion was something I could talk about forever, so it was an easy decision. 

Now I will not bore you with the theories, or my data from the paper (if you want to know more, please reach out though!) but I will say I put so much into this paper. I created my own data set, which was incredibly stressful and at the time it seemed like all I did was collect data but knowing that I was presenting on something I put my blood, sweat, and tears into. 

After working on this paper for three semesters, I am feeling bittersweet that after the semester ends, I will not touch this paper again. Because I am graduating a year earlier, I have spent half my college experience working on this paper.

This semester I have also met with my capstone advisor, who also happens to be my academic advisor. We meet every Friday at 12:30 p.m. after one of the other classes I take with her ends. Some Fridays I have spent more time with her than I do with my roommates. I would not have made it through this semester or these three years with my advisor. She is always there when I need her help whether it is academic help, grad school/career advice, or life advice. So, thank you Dr. Tillman for everything you have done for me these three years. Love you queen! 

I have learned so much more about a topic I truly enjoy. Writing this paper also helped me realize that my dream career would be to work for an organization that lobbies for or does research on reproductive rights and the effects they have both on voters and the effects they have in government. 

My capstone has literally been my personality for these last three semesters, so I honestly do not know what is going to happen next semester. I will have nothing academically stressing me out at the same level, and I am going to have so much more free time. My free time will rival the free time I had during my freshman year. I do not know what I will do with this free time, besides continue binging “Law and Order SVU”, so if anyone has some good book recommendations, please send them my way. 

Goodbye “The Effects of Political Messaging on Voter Turnout”!

Stephanie is a new member of St. Bonaventure's Her Campus. She plans to write about politics, music, pop culture, college and life in general. Stephanie is a senior political science major and a communication minor. She is also the SBU College Democrats Student Government Representative, Vice President of the SBU Fitness Club, and a member of the SBU Dance Team. In her free time, Stephanie likes to hang with her friends, watch The West Wing, listen to her favorite artists which include Niall Horan, Taylor Swift, and Isak Danielson, and walk with her mom and dog. Stephanie can frequently be found with an Iced Matcha Latte in her hand.