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Abstract

Leslie Payne is a Psychology major with a Communications minor from Vienna, Virginia. Leslie explains that when her class began discussing the impact of social media, she immediately knew what her essay would focus on. “It felt like the only possible thing I could write about,” she recalls, noting how strongly she felt about its pervasive effects yet lacking the structured expression to articulate them before this assignment. She was particularly interested in the overlap between short-form content, identity formation, and media cycles, and writing this paper gave her both the research and framework to better understand those connections. She also reflects that working in a college-level English class allowed her to move beyond formulaic high school writing and instead explore her own voice. “Gone were five-paragraph essays,” she says. “Instead, I had the freedom to follow my curiosity and craft arguments in creative ways.” Leslie found new purpose in writing and began to care about its impact beyond the grade. Outside the classroom, Leslie is passionate about artistic and cultural movements, especially the ways they move from individual expression to broader social groups. She is particularly interested in the intersection of fashion history and sociopolitical context and has a special fascination with the Aesthetic and Avant-garde movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Whether through research, reading, or creating her own small pieces of art, Leslie is committed to exploring and sustaining artistic expression in all its forms.

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