In College
I am grateful to be studying for a double major in both Sociology and Criminology & Justice Studies at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM).
Some of the programs that I have had the opportunity to be involved in are volunteering as a Sexual Violence Peer Educator, learning with the Social Justice Studies Club, learning topics like forensics and security protocols with the Cybersecurity Club, and working as a student assistant to make textbooks, course content, and other media accessible to everyone.
Beyond the availability of those specific programs, I was attracted to the programs in the Sociology Department at CSUSM because of their focus on social inequality. The campus' strategic plan focuses on social mobility and was ranked the top university in the United States on CollegeNET's 2022 Social Mobility Index.
Areas of Interest
Everything that I am learning has been fascinating to me, so it is difficult to narrow down topics of particular interest, but there are some areas that have particularly resonated with me. Some of my interests arise from our social context where social identity and the social determinants of health result in disparate outcomes. I am compelled to understand the phenomenon of violence in its many forms and how to protect those from experiencing or committing those acts.
The Sociology of Law and critical legal studies take a sociological approach toward understanding legal interactions, particularly between the movement of norms and laws working on each other.
Other areas I have been able to study have been White Collar Crime, Health Inequalities, and the Sociology of Emotions touch many of my intersecting interests. My background in video production and storytelling lends itself to qualitative research methods that apply well to operationalizing many of the intangible concepts within these topics.
Furthering my interest in these areas, I am pursuing Public Administration and Law & Society in my post-graduate career.
Outside of College
I'm a life-long learner! Right now I am learning about Accessibility with a focus on making documents accessible to everyone regardless of their access requirements. Living through the ongoing pandemic made me aware of how important access to information can be and how many barriers there are, whether that is inaccessible information due to limited or no accommodations for disability, language access, socioeconomic factors that limit access to technology or time with other resources, among so many others.
With the availability of lectures, conferences, and workshops taking place online, I have been learning not only about accessible design, but also about policy, conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
And for fun I am applying my background in video production and what I learned in my Sustainability courses at CSUSM toward nature and wildlife photography!
