Ana's Blog

Thinking back to our class on the White Slave Trade hysteria, what surprised me the most was how dramatic the stories were. They described young white girls being drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery, often after being approached by a stranger with a job offer or something seemingly harmless. Some of the descriptions sounded more like a movie plot than something people accepted as fact. What stood out to me most, though, was how racism shaped these stories. The term “white slavery” itself focused on protecting white women, while the threats were often portrayed as immigrants or Black men. I had not expected a discussion about protecting women to also reveal so much about prejudice. It made me wonder how many people believed they were helping while also spreading assumptions about people they already distrusted. My favorite part of class was the activity where we guessed the captions for old pictures. We tried to come up with ridiculous answers, but somehow the actual captions were...

This week, Yasmine and I presented on Now You See Me, which was one of my favorite assignments this semester. I love the movies and have watched them more times than I can count, but I had never watched them with the intention of analyzing them. Preparing for our presentation made me pay attention to details I had overlooked and question characters I had always rooted for. One scene that stood out was when the Horsemen get Arthur Tressler’s private information while talking to him on the plane. They casually ask questions, and he gives away information that can be used to answer his security questions without realizing it. After our discussions about phishing and scams, I recognized how this connects to social engineering. It made me think about how easily a normal conversation could be used to get information from someone. The presentation also made me question whether Dylan should be considered a good guy or a bad guy. He is an FBI agent secretly organizing the operation to get reven...

Last week’s discussion about cults surprised me because I had never heard of Waco before. Most people in class seemed familiar with David Koresh and the Branch Davidians, while I was learning about them for the first time. I think part of that is because I did not grow up in the US, so it was not something I had seen before. It also surprised me that something so significant happened only a couple of hours away from TCU, yet I knew nothing about it. One thing that stood out to me was how the effects of Waco continued after the fire. Learning that Timothy McVeigh viewed the Oklahoma City bombing as retaliation for Waco, and carried it out exactly two years later, was disturbing. I had not considered how one event could become a justification for more violence years afterward. I was also surprised by the different perspectives on the government’s involvement. Some people believed intervention was necessary, while others believed the government had overstepped. Hearing those perspectives ...

One of the biggest things I learned from consulting recruiting was that working hard on one approach does not mean it will work in every situation. Consulting interviews usually include cases, where you work through a business problem, explain your thinking, and do calculations along the way. The first two companies I recruited with had similar casing styles, so I spent hours practicing that approach with teo friends from TCU who knew it well from their own recruiting experiences.  When I did not receive an offer from either company, it was disappointing, especially after putting so much time into preparing while keeping up with school. However, recruiting with a third company challenged me to rethink my preparation. Its casing style was different, and continuing to practice the same way with my friends was not helping as much as before. Thus, I reached out to friends from my summer internship who were familiar with that company's approach. They gave me tips and helped me practice ...

Watching "The Wave" made me think a lot more about how much belonging influences whether people want to be part of a group or not. While the film showed how that feeling can become dangerous, it also made me reflect on the programs I am involved in at TCU and how that same principle applies. I am part of Neeley Fellows, a cohort business program where we have events, a recognizable logo, and merch we wear to events. Before the movie, I hadn't thought about how those things contribute to our sense of belonging. Wearing the same shirts and participating in exclusive events together reinforces that we are part of the same community. Another connection I noticed was how the movement created an "us versus them" mentality. In Fellows, we don't have an enemy but we do have a sense of competition with NLP, another cohort business program. That rivalry gives us another reason to identify with our program and feel proud to represent it.  I am also part of the Chancell...

Reflecting back on the presentation I did on deepfakes with my classmate Yasmine, I have realized how difficult they can be to recognize event when looking for them. During our presentation, we had exercises where our other classmates had to try and figure out if something was real or a deepfake. I was really surprised how many people struggled to tell them apart and wondered if the majority of people have such a hard time identifying the difference as well.  Thus, since the presentation, I have been more cautious when scrolling through social media. I find myself questioning whether the people and videos I see are real, which I did not think too much of before. However, being more aware has not stopped me from being fooled. The other day, I watched a TikTok featuring a girl who looked completely real to me. I did not question it until I opened the comments and saw people saying it was AI. Those comments did not prove it was AI, but they made me realize I had accepted the video wit...

I think werewolves became terrifying in the 16th century because existing legends gave people an explanation for violence they struggled to understand. Religious conflict and beliefs about the devil made these supernatural accusations seem believable, much like accusations during the with trials. What stood out to me was Perter Stubbe's confession into supposed proof. The werewolf also blurred the boundary between humans and animals: someone who appeared ordinary could supposedly become a predator. This makes me wonder whether the greater danger was the imagined beast or people's willingness to punish others without reliable evidence. To me, these trials show how a shared belief can become accepted as truth when fear discourages people from questioning it.