MY EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY

The beauty of scholarship, is that the knowledge you acquire often extends outside of a classroom. It becomes a part of your vernacular, it inspires conversations with your friends, it affects and evolves your world view, and it refines your interests and pursuits. Knowledge. It stands as a stepping stone; allowing you to see more of the world to what you didn’t know—you did not know. Academia is a breeding ground, a testing incubator. It’s the arena of trial and error. It is the space you allow yourself to expand in, and in it, find how far you can go.
 
I am analytical and I am creative. The dual mindsets are a product of my insatiable curiosity. The product of a constant gnawing at that question of… “why.”
 
It’s taken me over 10 years to complete my bachelors. I was plagued by some relentless pursuit to answer the question of “why.” Yet through the breeding grounds and testing incubators I tried—and failed—then tried again. I studied moralism and ethics. Feminist theory and politics. Life sciences and calculus. I studied old thinkers and new. I studied new social phenomena’s from the perspective of written history. I studied the importance of context and I learned the value of peer review. I had studied in a total of 4 different colleges and had changed my degree more times than I could count. Yet the portion of this degree that surprised me time and time again, was that thinking interdisciplinarily was more true to who I am as a thinker, than the previous disciplines I studied before coming to the University of Washington.
 
In chemistry I learned that alloys are stronger than pure metals. That having a mixture of different sized atoms melted into one final metal, is stronger than one on its own. The ISS degree taught me that in order to answer my question to why something is, or isn’t, I must be able to understand every facet contributing to its existence. And that to argue my opinions holistically, I needed to alloy a whole and strong position to argue from. And that in finding the details, or outliers, I was able to work from the outside in, to discovering my bigger picture.
 
I came to UW with a large question, a large why. Because despite my twists and turns, my heart has always been rooted in health and wellness. I wanted to understand why certain people had access to high quality health care and opportunities, while others didn’t. I also wanted to know, that given these circumstances, why were certain communities more susceptible to illness and even death, while others did not. And through my time here at UW, I have discovered that this line of questioning falls under the discipline of Public Health.
 
Never in my wildest dreams did I consider this path. I came to UW with the skeleton of a plan, yet it was through authors like bell hooks and Paul Farmer, that I feel my goals more holistic, whole, and strong. With my degree in Public Health, I currently work for the Washington State Department of Health. Yet I return to the UW again in pursuit of my masters in Social Work. Let the joys of learning begin!