Senior Seminar Spotlight: Marina Martinez on Women, ADHD, and Who Gets Heard

As the fall semester gets underway, our wonderful seniors are, as always, starting their semester-long senior projects. Among them is Marina Martinez, who is asking why ADHD gets talked about the way it does, and whose stories get left out.

Where the Project Started

Her project, “Overlooked: Women’s Experiences with ADHD, Gender Stereotypes, and Diagnosis,” began with a pattern among her friends. Many of her friends of color were diagnosed halfway through high school, while white peers were often diagnosed in early grade school. She didn’t think that was a coincidence. As she dug in, she found that much of the ADHD research is centered on men, which led her to focus on women.

What She’s Doing

For her senior project, Marina will interview women with ADHD about their experiences and look at representations of ADHD in popular media and the news, comparing how ADHD is portrayed to how it’s lived.

How Comm Shaped It

Her COMM coursework gave her the tools to understand the differences she expects to find. Courses like Analyzing Public Texts, Analyzing Practices and Habits, and Masculinities in Media are just a few that shaped her project. “All the classes … tie back” to her project, she says.

Looking Ahead

After she graduates from Gonzaga, Marina hopes to carry the ambition of her project out to the world. She has a passion for connecting with and supporting families and hopes to do work that does just that.

Want to see Marina’s and our other amazing seniors' final projects? Come to our senior capstone showcase on December 15th at 6 p.m. in the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center. And if you’d like to participate, department chair Melissa Click (click@gonzaga.edu) would be happy to put you in touch with Marina.