Areas of Study

Before completing my Associates Degree, I got slightly insecure in selecting a degree that would direct me to a specialized form of education. What do I mean by that? In our society, it is highly inclined and supposed that, like lawyers, engineers, and doctors, one must pick one singular interest. I have too many that they make my imagination run wild if I ever followed those areas. I am sure I am not the only one that has had this dilemma. With my Bachelor degree in IDS, I won't have to make that common choice.

I believe that talent in this world is greatly admired, even though persistence and consistency are far more the necessary skills. Without those two contributions, I could not have bettered my dental hygiene or participated in the Dancing for Diabetes 2021 event. Surely with these skills, more further and even greater effective accomplishments can surge.

My goals include learning and raising awareness around languages and communities, be it through my own experience or drawing it from others.

For example, I would never truly understand the hardships a Deaf individual could go through. Yet, being involved with the Deaf community and as a certain advocate for ASL is a start and a win. The main way I would address this is by building experience and knowledge as an interpreter or translator. With that and along with education scholars or professional, it could be a possible endeavor to innovate any education system to be diversified and more inclusive for different spectrums of intelligence.

Therefore, the areas of study I chose were Communications and Humanities.

I studied Communications because interactions, cues, and social-cultural narratives are related to what we see in the media and human communications. In this field of study, I learned how speech and behaviors produce actions from individuals that may attract or repel. For example, in the course Communication Theory, we studied the Expectancy Violation Theory, to generalize it is how we receive one’s, or our own, expectations of “normal behavior.” The professor made sure to include a video of this phenomena, and it made its impact, for until now I still remember.

In the course, Intercultural Communication we learned how to assess and critically think about various cultures and nationalities. For example, is a population more individual or collectively inclined? Is the society homogenous? Would they be high or low context? Taken together, I was able to develop clarity and consideration, with patience, about how people act in their lives. Mainly these behaviors are taught and some ‘’wired’’ regarding to the society they were immersed in. I can utilize these skills and knowledge to level up the courtesy for verbal and non-verbal cues around others. Not to only practice compromise, but for building and strengthening relationships. Ever since this course, I started a part time job in retail which leads me to admit that I would not have such great customer service and comprehension.

I studied Humanities because it is necessary to be openminded and able to investigate thoughts that have been carried through decades. In this field of study, I learned history, philosophy and a lot of literature which essentially produce skills of reflection and projection. For example, in the course Topics in Latin America, we studied about influential elites and figures that represented ideals which took part in the formation of these modern countries. In the course American History (US Foreign Relations 1945 to the present), we studied closely about the presidential administrations and their ties to intelligence bureaus. Truly this course was an eye opener to the legal, political, and military factors to the wellbeing of a country. In the course Imperialism and Decolonization of South Asia, we studied about the fall to the Mughal empire, the power taken by the European trading countries, and the narrative of whether any colony is truly decolonized.

Taken these areas together, I was able to develop the consideration of historiography and history of what countries and the people went through, reason to the perspectives in cultures, and complexities they face today. I can utilize these skills and knowledge to innovate specific policies placed that worked for a determined time and require upgrades. It may sound cliché, but time and people are always changing. I wish to grow along, intellectually, with the innovators that dream and do work for a better place.