Anthropology and Sociology

Webinar Transcription

2021-02-22 Anthropology and Sociology

[00:00:00] Hi, everyone. Welcome to the CollegeAdvisor’s webinar on anthropology and sociology too. I ended up going with the webinar timing. We’ll start off with a presentation, then answer your questions in a live Q and I. And on the sidebar again, and in the public chat, you can download our slides in the handouts tab and you can start submitting questions in the Q and a tab.

Now we can get started and meet our panelists. Okay.

I look really young in this. I took this photo freshman year, but hello everyone. My name is Jan like January, but without the wary, [00:01:00] I am currently in Florida, California. I attended pizza college graduated in 2020. It is a small private liberal arts college in Southern California. It is a member of the Claremont colleges and your wonderful schools.

If you were Dean to them, I majored in sociology and international and intercultural studies. And yeah, that’s

My name is Blu Frankel. I just graduated from Harvard college with a degree in social anthropology, and I got a minor in art film and visual studies. And I’m looking forward to chatting with all of you. Okay. Great. Thank you guys so much for being here. Now, we’ll go through these questions. You can just frequently ask questions and you guys can alternate who goes first.

So first out, what led you to your major? I’ll go [00:02:00] first. So during high school, I was very involved in my community and in my school I attended a public school in a predominantly low income city. So I saw a major need or community organizing and advocacy. So I started my activism at a really young age and didn’t quite know it yet.

So fast forward to when I was choosing schools, I wanted to make sure that my values aligned to the institution that I would attend. So Fitzer college was exactly that and more its emphasis on social justice and environmental sustainability was definitely something that I look forward to. So with this equity driven mindset, I went into my college experience with an open mind, knowing that I was really excited to learn.

So I took classes that I was very excited about which were, you know, usually in the sociology in social sciences. And so I just really engaged in, in critically thinking about society and people. So by my junior year, I had already fulfilled most of my major requirements without even realizing. And then my junior year [00:03:00] I decided to declare, but I also did do another major.

So I was able to do a combine.

And I I sort of fell into this major for a variety of reasons. I mean, like I said, in the slide, I I was always interested in human cultures and, and group behaviors since I was a little kid, you know, and I was really interested in archeology and anthropology. And I did take an anthropology class when I was in high school at my local community college, but I didn’t really know that I wanted to actually major in anthropology.

I would kind of just say that when I didn’t know how to answer people’s questions, I would just say, oh, well, you know, I’ll major in anthropology. And then I actually ended up doing so when I got to college, I, you know, I sorta kept an open mind with the courses that I was taking and I did it. Have any preset agenda?

I didn’t know what I would major in. So I just took the classes that were [00:04:00] interesting to me. And those classes ended up being primarily in the anthropology, sociology and archeology fields. And I I decided that that’s what I would major in because I was just super interested in it. And I also wanted to do my own research.

And I knew that if I had selected anthropology as my major, I would have the opportunity to do my own field work and my own research papers. And I would have a certain amount of resources to actually make that happen. And so it sort of fell into place in that way. And I’m also a, I actually minored in film production, but originally I was a film major.

And I actually. Discovered in my junior year that, that the fields of filmmaking and ology could actually be combined through visual ethnography. And that’s [00:05:00] something that was really interesting to me. And that I’ll talk about later in the panel. Okay, great. Next up. What extracurriculars did you do in high school?

A little. So I was very, very much involved in high school. And while I feel like I didn’t completely write down everything I was involved in and that’s mostly because I don’t quite remember everything it has. Five years now. But I do remember there being you know, some sleepless nights and jumping from one activity to one another to another, and you know, a lot of leadership roles.

And I can definitely say that I loved everything that I was involved with. So I did a list that I was in varsity tennis. That was a lot of fun. I did theater and I was acting for the most part, but then in my 12th grade, I definitely want it to be. Something within the leadership role. So I directed a play and acted in it as well.

I was class president from my sophomore year to my senior year. So I did a lot [00:06:00] of project management and organizing. And then I also did a lot of events coordinating for rallies, et cetera. I’m just a lot of events for school and that a big part that definitely carried on from my CA my high school career to my college career is being a mentor.

So that was definitely something that also shaped my academic interest in houses, it in lots of community service and community organizing. Cool. So sir, similar to Jan, I was also very involved in theater in high school. I did probably like 30 or 40 different plays and musicals at my high school and on the county and regional level.

I was also involved in music. I did a lot of choir groups also on various levels and I directed and founded an acapella group, which was on a lifetime reality show, which is kind of funny. But [00:07:00] and I also did I was involved with habitat for humanity and I did a lot of fundraising and event planning through that organization.

I was a runner. I did cross country and track. I debated, I did history Quizbowl I was the president of student, student government, and I also worked many jobs as a student in high school. I worked at different restaurants. I worked at home goods just different things to kind of have some income coming in.

But a little bit of a Jack of all trades master of none situation.

Okay. So now what was your college application process like?

Okay, sounds good. So I very early on in high school, I just decided that I want to go, I wanted to go to Stanford. I’m not really sure why. I think I was attracted to the weather basically. And [00:08:00] so I, I thought I would go there. And so all of my efforts in the beginning went towards my Stanford application in the early action round.

And I got deferred. So I sort of had to broaden my horizons and I applied to many other schools. And I got accepted to the majority of them, but During the process. I think that I, I started pretty early. I started the summer before the application process and I devoted a lot of time to just brainstorming what I would want to write about, you know?

And so like if I would, I would keep a list of just interesting experiences that I’d had that I think would be, would have been valuable to write about. So I had that list going, and then when I was actually writing the essays, I, I wrote a number of drafts to sort of work through different experiences I’d had and decide which ones would be most relevant to the school that I was applying to.

[00:09:00] And I guess. What do you, what I wish I had known, I wrote this in the slide, but I mean, I think when I was applying to college, I cared a lot about the priests, the prestige of the school that I was applying to and ultimately attended. And I think that that’s something that people should take with a grain of salt because the prestige of the school doesn’t necessarily translate to the, you know, academic opportunities you’ll have there, the social experiences that you’ll be able to be involved in as well as just like the general environment atmosphere that you want to be surrounded by.

So I think that people should be aware of, or should question, what kind of person am I right now and what kind of person would I like to be, and really based their decisions on you know, where they’re at and what they would like. Experience rather than some idea of what [00:10:00] is the best quote unquote, best school to attend.

And that being said, I have no regrets about attending Harvard. But you know, I, I was a little bit diluted at the time when I was applying. And when I was choosing a school to attend

for sharing that I resonate with a lot of be what you wish you had known. So I guess to start off, I, a big part of my identity is being a April-ish and low income student or will now graduate. So during my time in high school, I was involved in college access programs and they assisted me with applying to colleges and.

Just went hard and I just went him and I took that opportunity and I applied. And as it says on the invitation, I applied to 22 colleges and fortunately was accepted to 16, but I, I don’t recommend that a way of applying just because it was so much stress, not [00:11:00] only, you know, like try to try to keep track of all of the application portals that you have to go through, but I wish that I had gone to know myself a lot better prior to applying for colleges, because I think that when I was applying to all of those 22 colleges, I just thought, wow, the campus looks so pretty.

And I don’t really know much about, you know, college in the United States as you know, as an immigrant. So I was like, okay, I’m gonna apply to that one. I’m not really sure what their values are, but I’m going to apply to that one as well. And so when it came down to the acceptances. I had a lot of obstacles with narrowing it down because then now it became down to getting to know myself, what did I want that I want to go to a UCLA?

Did I want to go to UC Berkeley? Or did I want to go to you know, all of the way on the other side of the United States and go to Hamilton college or, or Dartmouth? And Pitzer was just 15 minutes away from my house and I had never heard of it. And still, you know until I had to do a diversity program, which I also recommend definitely looking into.

[00:12:00] So I definitely struggled as I mentioned multiple times, but when it came down to it and it sort of resonating with what Lou said, I was very, very. Stuck on the prestige part. So until the, until 10 minutes before the deadline to commit, I was actually set on going to Dartmouth college. I really wanted to go to an Ivy league because I thought that that would be what was best for my future.

And then I really had to sit down and think, and I realized that Pittsburgh, I just felt so much more at ease. And I felt that the fit was definitely there in my heart was felt like I was going to regret the decision of not when it gets there. So 10 minutes before the deadline, I decided to go to Pittsburgh and I haven’t regretted that decision since, but I do definitely recommend thinking, you know, about it very, very thoughtfully and intentionally when you are applying for colleges and when you are choosing the college that you want to attend.[00:13:00]

Okay. Great. Now next question. What extracurriculars did you do in college? I guess I’ll start first again. So I continued my interest in theater in college, and I got more involved on the tech technical side. I did hasty pudding theatricals, which was basically like this comedic drag show.

That’s been a tradition at Harvard since the 18 hundreds and I, so I built sets in prod ops and did like lighting and sound designed for, for those shows throughout school. And I also acted in different productions. I was involved with political organizing. I worked with the Harvard Democrats to do a lot of canvassing work for democratic candidates.

I organized a strike for the dining service workers at Harvard, with the student labor action movement and organized a lot of rallies and sit-ins and Coordinated with a lot [00:14:00] of different student groups and faculty to garner support for the movement. I got into filmmaking in college. I made a number of documentaries, including with the Harvard Crimson and

much like in high school. I also worked a number of jobs that were attached restaurants, breweries. I worked as a tour guide and yeah, that’s about it.

Cool. Thank you again for sharing. I also worked multiple jobs especially having been a work study student. I didn’t write this down, but I worked in the mail room. I was a student activities programmer but one of the, or some of the highlights of my extracurriculars in college and stuff.

Continuing that equity driven mindset. So I worked in the office of admission for three and a half years. So starting my freshman year, spring semester, I started off as [00:15:00] a diversity intern and I sort of just expanded more into different roles. So I give a tour guide. I also help with operations and then I know level up to become admission fellow, which was an amazing opportunity.

But throughout my college career too, I definitely worked in as a first generation student mentor. I wasn’t that that wasn’t a paid opportunity, but that was something that I definitely wanted to continue. I didn’t work as a resident assistant as well for one school year, but some of my most recent activities was being a participant of the inside-out justice education program and also advocating for immigrants and refugees.

In the, in, in Parma, Italy, and also here in Monterey park, California. And so I just wanted to share real quick about the inside out justice education program. But that is essentially a program where either outside students, which are Claremont college students and an inside [00:16:00] students, which are students who are incarcerated in Norco, California prison.

And so we took classes together and advocated for each other. And that was an amazing experience

onto the next side. Now, here are some common classes for an anthropology or sociology major. Yes. So This is actually pretty cool to see that there’s a lot of similarities within anthropology and sociology. I mean, starting to do that while I was in college. Cause I did see a lot of crossovers, but essentially in your first year of classes, you’re definitely going to be starting with a sociology or a, sorry, not just sociology introduction to sociology, introductions, a production to anthropology.

I’ve taken a introduction to sociology, sociology, sociological anthropology class, which is really, really cool. So you’ll definitely get to really understand the basics and then, you know, expand from there. My sophomore year, I definitely [00:17:00] started to take more theory classes. So as mentioned in sexuality theories, sociology of education, and then getting into the research methods as well.

Yeah. And in terms of the sort of. Junior and senior year coursework that you might engage in. I think that junior year and senior year of anthropology coursework is sort of centered around research. And so at least what I did at school was taking different courses to explore different research research methods and then seminar.

And they called them tutorials where we would conduct our own research, but we would also be in a class with other students who were conducting their own research. And we would kind of come together once or twice a week and discuss what we were experiencing and and suggest ways of going about [00:18:00] our independent research based on what we had learned.

And so. That was a lot of what I did junior year. I also was involved with different seminars. I don’t know if, if that’s what they’re called at other schools, but you know, basically like a smaller group of students coming together for a discussion-based class. And so, you know, there’s different readings and we would come together to discuss them and sort of have debates around the topics that were highlighted in the readings.

And you know, depending on the school you attend and the program that you’re involved with, you may also be involved in other peripherally related classes that allow you to explore different fields of anthropology.

So as a film class, it was, it was like half in [00:19:00] the film department and half in the anthropology department. And it was basically creating ethnographic films and finding subjects and locations that would that we were interested in researching through the lens of documentary filmmaking. And that was actually M a, a really pivotal moment for me in my academic career was discovering visual anthropology and filmmaking as a way of exploring my interests.

And then I guess, Hmm, going on a little bit, but for senior year, I think at least at my school, in the end typology field in senior year, you kind of were allowed to take whatever other classes you wanted to take that weren’t, that you weren’t able to take in your previous years. But also a lot of it was focused around writing the senior thesis.

And so we had these tutorials again, where people were conducting their own research and, [00:20:00] and we would come together and sort of critique one another on our methods and the the writing or film that we were creating.

Okay. Now, what was your favorite class that was related to your major? Okay, so I, I just love sociology, so I, I, I could, I could say that it’s all of them, definitely sociology, education, sexuality, theories, racing race and gender. And however, I feel like maybe it’s just because I really love this professor.

And he, you know, became my mentor throughout the time because I took so many classes from him. But as a sociology nerd, my favorite class was classical sociological theory. And that was getting into the nitty gritty and getting into the basics of, you know, where did sociology come from? And you know, how has it progressed over the years?

What, [00:21:00] why is it, is it objective? Is it subjective? Like what, how do these theories from, you know, people who were trying to develop this sociology as a real social science. How has it progressed into our society now and how does that connect with contemporary issues? So I’ve definitely loved taking this class because it brought everything together that I’ve ever taken in sociology.

And it just made so much more sense. And I wished that I took this class maybe freshman year instead of my senior year year. But I think too that I might not have been as intellectually mature about sociology until my senior year to really get into Mark’s favor. During time and boys and Gilman, it, it was, it was such an enriching experience.

Just really getting to know where these ideas came from and having developed over time. So I’ve loved that a lot.

Yeah. [00:22:00] I mean, so just to echo Jan a little bit also one of my favorite classes was the. Theory classes that I took as an apology major, which covered the works of, you know, marks, WebVR, Durkheim and a variety of other thinkers in the sociology, anthropology fields. And I, I found that really illuminating for my own research.

But my favorite classes were like, I alluded to previously sensory ethnography, which was a, a film-based anthropology class. And I, it really opened my eyes to different ways that Anthropocene anthropology could be explored and exercised. So I mean, my main, my, my main film that I created.

Among other projects in that class. But the main piece that I created was [00:23:00] about a gas station, you know, and it was I picked a particular location. It was a Speedway in Allston, Massachusetts, and I just sort of brought my camera and allowed life to unfold at that gas station. And I captured whatever was going on there.

And I encountered many different people who were passing through that particular location. And I created a really interesting film about it. You know what I mean? The themes ended up addiction and, and various other like human themes that happen too. Exhibit themselves in the context of a gas station.

And so it really opened my eyes to the ways in which anthropological methods could be exercised outside of the typical the typical spheres that they are currently exercise, [00:24:00] which tends to be, you know, like exotic, exotic quote unquote groups in largely unexplored parts of the world. But you know, anthropology really has a lot of potential to explore cultural situations that are outside of the purview of you know, exotic or unexplored tribes or, or whatnot.

And another class that it was really interesting for me was my junior tutorial, which was basically a research-based course. And so we. Like I alluded to before we were researching our own our own topics and our own interests. And I studied sort of Neo spiritual groups in Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey.

And I got to do a lot of field work, which was simultaneously or tangentially, I guess, related to my own [00:25:00] life. And it was really interesting for me to explore those worlds through the lens of anthropology. Okay, great. Now, what are career options available for someone who wants to major in sociology or anthropology?

Before I go into this, I definitely. Say, thank you for sharing that because I, well, I think one of my favorite things about just not just sociology, but also anthropology and these, these fields of study is that you can really get to explore what you were interested in and you can get even deeper than you thought.

And, and I think that that was one of my favorite things about sociology, as well as getting to really do the research on what I was passionate about, which was advocating for students of colors in a predominantly white institution. And that’s definitely something that I’d love to share if anyone had any questions, [00:26:00] but still moving forward.

In terms of career options available, I definitely would say that college advising CollegeAdvisor CollegeAdvisor.com is a huge option and also possibility and college admission just in general, it does allow. I think anthropology correct me if I’m wrong. And sociology will definitely be able to give you a lot of perspective about society, not just in the present and the historic, but really getting to know, you know, like who is able to attend college and how can we make that more accessible and what are little ways in which we can assist folks who, you know, maybe within the marginalized communities to be able to afford not only afford and get admitted into college, but also stay in college.

But furthermore, definitely a lot of project management, diversity equity and inclusion social work. And I know there might be some questions about [00:27:00] social work and sociology, and we can definitely get into that, a lot of research and policy analyses. And you know, if you want to become a professor, et cetera, and I’m sure who has more debt.

Yeah. I mean, I completely agree with Jan and I would also say that I think, you know, anthropology and sociology are fields where you have kind of whatever, a career option that you want available to you, because ultimately it’s a field where you’re exploring the world, you know, and how and how people interact with one another.

And how different structures sort of collide with one another and[00:28:00]

frozen. Can you hear us?

Yeah, I’ll turn off my camera to see if that helps

blue. Can you hear us?

Okay. It looks like he’s rejoining the webinar, so hopefully we’ll get him back. Dan. Do you have anything else that you want career opportunities? We’ll use the rejoining. I was really excited. Oh, there he is. I was really excited cause he was [00:29:00] getting really passionate and I really like to hear what else you have to say blurry here.

Sorry to everyone in the audience for our technical difficulties. We’ll get blue back in soon and we’ll get to hear what he has to say.

Hello. Can you hear us? Sorry. I must’ve had a network issue, but should I continue or, okay, sure. So I was just saying that [00:30:00] there’s a lot of different career options available, but there are more specific ones that are related to the anthropology and sociology fields. I mean the primary one is academia.

A lot of the people that I encountered in this world were involved in this field, which essentially consists of conducting your own research projects, which are funded by various sources and then writing about them. So whether that’s a book or a paper Basically just conducting that research and sharing your findings with the world.

And then that also leads to professorship positions. If that’s something that you’re interested in. It also has relation to politics journalism, law of documentary filmmaking, as I alluded to, but ultimately, you know, it’s studying anthropology in lesser going into academia, and you want to do your own research for the rest of your life and write books and whatnot.

Which is a totally interesting thing [00:31:00] to do, but not personally what I’m interested in. If that’s not the case for you, it’s also a field where there are so many different career options open because it teaches you how to observe the world and think about, and write about, and speak about the world in different ways that you may not have encountered before.

Okay. Great. Thank you guys. Now that’s the end of the presentation part of the webinar. I hope you all found this information helpful. And to remember that you can download the slides and the handout side, or from the link in the public chat, moving on to the live Q and a I’ll read through the questions that you submitted in the Q and a tab.

I’ll paste them into the public chat so everyone can see, and then I’ll read them out loud before our panelists give an answer. You can direct your question to one specific panelist, or I’ll give an answer as a heads up. If [00:32:00] the Q and a tab, isn’t letting you submit questions, just double-check that you joined the webinars through the custom link in your email and not from the webinar landing page.

Okay, great. We have quite a few questions submitted already, but please keep submitting them. If you have a new thing out first. Would you say that sociology is something that would be beneficial in activism and advocacy? And if so, how would I apply it? 1320%? Yes. And I know for sure the anthropology is too, even, you know, having only taken a few classes, but it really allows you not only to, you know, understand how societies formed or how societies function, but it gives so much context in the world and not even just the world, but where you place in the world within your positionality and your identities and how you can interact with other people’s different [00:33:00] facets of identity with your different facets of identity.

And one of the biggest things that I believe at least you know, one of my epiphanies when I studied abroad in Italy was that when I, when I went in as a Filipina. First gen and you know, a lot of Italians didn’t really understand that I wasn’t Chinese. And, you know, I think going in with the understanding of, you know, there is such a different way of, you know, functioning, not only media, but just the ways that we interact with the world.

I was more understanding in the ways that, you know, I was interacting with them. So I wasn’t so much offended, but I was more patient and understanding in that, you know, like I am Philippina I’m not Chinese. So, you know, when folks say Niihau or you know, other languages than Asia, I’m just like, oh, I’m actually looking.

I know I was able to articulate that in Italian, which was a really great way. And that definitely carried on to my activism within [00:34:00] working in a immigration and refugee asylum and just keeps going and going and just like understanding your person, your, your positionality and your identities. I think it’s very enlightening.

And if you ever wanted to understand your yourself and how people perceive you, I think sociology, is that a good way to go?

I mean, I, I feel like Jan pretty much answered that question exactly how I would have answered it, but I completely agree that they’re super related. And you know, especially obviously within the fields of activism and advocacy, you want to have a really solid understanding of how different systems operate and how people respond to them.

And I think, you know, obviously the fields of anthropology and sociology to shed light on that, but also if there’s a specific area that you’re interested in being [00:35:00] involved in and you want to advocate for. Studying a field like that would really be beneficial for you because it would give you the tools to really investigate those things in a, in a super substantive way, because, and that, and that would inform your activism and advocacy in a really helpful way.

You know, I think a lot of activism today is, is really great, but sometimes it’s lacking the context that maybe it needs to be most effective. And so studying a field like this and really getting involved in it would potentially give you that context to really create effective forms of advocacy and activism.

Okay, great. We already talked a little bit about jobs, but this is more personal. Have you pursued any thoughts relating to your fields [00:36:00] or if you’re doing that currently, do you find it to be hard?

I guess I could start. I mean, I’m not, so really, I feel like the only jobs that are directly directly related to the fields of anthropology and sociology are in academia, you know, and, and I’m not personally, at least at this point in my life, that’s not something that I’m pursuing. And so I’m not pursuing jobs directly related to anthropology, but I am applying to Joe.

I mean, I just graduated school like a month ago, so I’m still on the job hunt, you know? And so I’m, I’m looking at things in, you know, journalism and news and political organizing, even things in like entertainment, you know, all of these fields, like I said before are related to anthropology and the ways that I’ve explored topics and ideas [00:37:00] in my studies inform all of these fields.

So in terms of it being hard, I guess it’s hard in the sense that the job market right now is a little bit tough because of the pandemic. But in general, I would say no, because there’s so many different options. I agree a hundred percent. I wouldn’t, I, I do say it is hard right now because of how competitive it is to everyone or many people are graduating, independent make, and there’s still folks that graduated with me you know, are still looking for opportunities.

But I would say that job search is a skill. And it’s definitely something that we weren’t taught in high school. And sometimes even in college, you definitely have to seek out career services and definitely feeds that while you’re in college. But in general, I would say that I agree a hundred percent because it’s such.

I love the major so much [00:38:00] because I’ve learned so much about myself and I’ve learned so much about how I can and want to contribute into the world. So I’m definitely a little bit more selective in terms of what organizations I want to apply for. But I think that that’s such a benefit because then you’re going in self-aware and also aware of how important that organization will be to you and how important it is to be involved in that and to want to contribute to those efforts.

Okay, great. This next question is more about applying to college in general, but what do you think is the best way to search for colleges that will fit your personality and character?

I’ll go first. Because this, you mentioned was a struggle, but I, since my freshman year of college, I’ve been assisting first-generation college students with. The college search, not only just the college application and financial aid processes, [00:39:00] but I would say one academic interest is definitely a huge part.

Making sure that what you not are are not only fixated in one academic interest, but you’ll be interested in multiple different fields that they offer in different programs that they offer. Just in case you do want to have that switch someday. And just in case that they are very open to you exploring different courses.

But in general, I would say this is something that wasn’t as common during my time searching for colleges, but I’ve learned that YouTube videos of students in that college and blogs have been really helpful for a lot of my previous students. And I wish I had that, or I wish I utilized that in case there were a lot of those already, but I’m also asking questions.

And this is something that I learned in the admissions office or working in admissions office. Is that. You can actually email the admissions counselors of those colleges and ask to speak or email with a student and ask, you know, is [00:40:00] there, for example, if there’s someone who is a Philippina in that college, and I would be interested in learning about how they feel in, you know, predominantly white institution or is there an organization for first-generation students, et cetera, and then getting to understand also where your personality fits in by making those connections.

So I definitely think that that could be a way to utilize it. Yeah. So I definitely would agree with what Jen said. And also add on that you know, really looking into the area that your college is located in could be helpful because you know, a lot of people choose to remain insulated in there.

College campus and in the sort of bubble that they’re involved in, but you also are going to be living in an area, you know, a different area of the United States or the world that you haven’t lived in before, unless you’re going to school in your hometown. And so [00:41:00] that, that city, or that town that you’re located in is also an opportunity for you to learn a lot of really interesting things about yourself and about the world.

And so I think really doing research about the location that you’re college the location of your college and what kinds of opportunities are available there, but maybe helpful for you. But you know, that being said, a lot of them. Most colleges are located either inside of, or on the outskirts of major metropolitan areas that you would be able to derive a lot of value from.

So you know, so those opportunities are everywhere, but different places have offered different experiences. And so I think that that the location is definitely something to explore in depth.

[00:42:00] Okay, great. As a quick break in the middle of our Q and a, I wanted to let you know what you could do after this webinar. If you wanted to get help on your college application and any other panelists or our other advisors from CollegeAdvisors, we have two monthly dieting plans to start your plan in the sky plan.

They’re both monthly subscriptions where you get matched with an advisor of your choice and you get one or two hours of one-on-one advising each. We also have larger packages that come with a set number of hours and an extended relationship with your advisor as advisors, we will work with you on your college essays, choosing schools and reviews, and more we descend everyone is linked to get started.

This offer links to our page to sign up and get started. Our students that CollegeAdvisor have had a ton of success. This past admissions season, we had CollegeAdvisor clients get into all the IDs and every top twenty-five school in the country, our [00:43:00] clients create as 9.8 at a 10. And that’s because we put a ton of care into working with you.

One-on-one through every step of your application process. If you want to discuss one-on-one with any of our advisors, this is a great chance to work with us. Okay, great. We’re going to continue on with the Q and a John, this next question is for you. How does social work fit into sociology? I’m unsure if I should major in social work or sociology or Bella, I wish that I could give you a solid answer because this is something that I definitely wondered when I was, I want to say when I was your age, but when I was in the same position, because now I’m actually interested in going to grad school for social work and using that, you know, the background in sociology to apply for grad schools into apply what I’ve learned into social work.

Because now I realized that that’s [00:44:00] definitely something that I want to continue to pursue. I would say that it does fit in sociology because it deals so much with people and situations that people are in that, you know, like you learn are very systemic and You also get to learn and I’ve learned how, not only how they become systemic and how they come to be, but how we can start to dismantle those situations in order to help folks who are marginalized.

And so that’s something that I would love to pursue. And I definitely also want to, I see that there’s a question on, you know, wanting to be a social worker and how also, like, you know, colleges can give you more opportunities, but I would say really do research, not just within yourself and what exactly you want out of your career, but what can those institutions that you’re applying for offer you to build you into that person that or into the career that you want to go into?

Because that’s something [00:45:00] that I lacked in doing while searching for colleges, I was just really excited to go to Pittsburgh because I wanted to learn, I was just ready to learn and I didn’t have a set, you know, dream job at the time. When I started to develop those ideas now, I’m like, okay, I’d love to go into social work because I’ve learned more about it and I’ve connected with books.

And that also contributes to me being a first gen student, not really knowing much about what I can pursue, what I would have the ability to use.

Okay. Thank you guys. The next question is, do you guys have experience with community college? So I actually do I took a community college class when I was in high school. And it was actually a cultural anthropology class, which definitely informed my future studies. I mean, I’m not sure exactly what this.

Question is getting [00:46:00] at, but I think, you know, community colleges in your area are a great way to explore interests that you may have or think you have, and to get a deeper sense of what that interest entails or what it may lead to. You know, obviously at a community college, you’re not going to have as much access to resources and professors that you may have at you know, a more, a more recognized college or a private college, but that’s not to say that you can’t learn really valuable things about fields that you’re interested in.

So, you know, as a way of, of exploring interests, I would definitely say it’s a super valuable.

The next question. What was the hardest part of the college process for you?[00:47:00]

Should I go first? I think for me the hardest part, honestly, like I didn’t find the application process hard per se. I mean, there were a lot of applications during regular decision times, but I think the hardest part probably was, you know, a lot of schools will ask you, like what, what about this school attracts you?

And like what, what re what do you hope to take advantage of when you attend our school? And I think that was hard because, you know, I’m applying to so many different schools and when I’m answering that question, like, you know, I’m not, it’s not like that school in particular is my top choice and I’ve done so much research on it.

So I think coming up with responses that are both true to yourself, but also may resonate with the college is is a challenging process. And that’s something that, you know, as in my role, as an admissions advisor, that’s [00:48:00] something I help students with is you know, aligning, you know, being authentic while still full IX from seeing a genuine and substantive interest in the college that you’re applying to.

Other than that, just like the process of waiting and not knowing what decisions I’m going to get or what I’m going to do about it. So Jan back you Jan. I agree, but also I think for me it was time managing. And application management because, you know, we both applied to so many and I’m sure, you know, correct me if I’m wrong, but like writing those essays, even though they did have, you know, similar prompts, it, it definitely is kind of like applying for jobs where, you know, you definitely should have a different resume that is very particular to that job.

And not just spraying, you know, the resumes to different [00:49:00] organizations, but essentially in, well, you’ll have, you know, you worry about that after college, but in the college application process, it’s definitely making sure that you not only feel that, you know, you have your academic interests aligned with what they offer, but that your own values also aligned with the college and the institution’s values.

Because for me, at least that’s why Fitzer was such an integral part of my growth is because our values connected so well. We have five core values. Saw myself resonating with every single one of them, even though it is maybe one or two more than the other five or four. Great. And I think that in general, the hard part about it is not, not knowing exactly, you know, what you’re going into, which is part of life.

Right. And it’s really all about seeking out resources, making sure that you’re taking advantage of all of the [00:50:00] resources that you can grab and you can, you know, utilize and just making the most of the experience. It’s a fun experience. You get to learn a lot about yourself.

Okay. Next question is saying, is there a way I can reach you for some feature questions, like an email. So I saw you already put yours in the chat, but Jen, if you want to share yours for any future questions, you can type it in. Well, you’re doing that next question. Do theology and anthropology fit into psychology.

I can try to answer that. I mean, I think it certainly fits in social sociology and anthropology are more oriented towards the group, the collective and psychology is more oriented towards the individual. So you know, I think it’s [00:51:00] more, it’s more like psychology fits into sociology, sociology, and anthropology, more than sociology, anthropology fitting into psychology, but they definitely do.

I think it’s just a matter of scale Because sociology and anthropology do, they do relate to the individual experience, but I think psychology is much more oriented towards that. And also, I would say probably like a lot of undergraduate psychology is kind of scientific, like a lot of it is about neuroscience and sociology and anthropology are more about sort of subjective explorations of different phenomenon.

Whereas undergraduate psychology tends to be oriented towards like hardcore qual quantitative research.[00:52:00]

I’m going to resonate with what blue just said. Because I did, I did think that psychology was a path that I would end up taking. So I took an introduced psych class. I took a lot of intro classes but being someone that has always been sort of humanities minded, and I always struggled with math and sciences, even throughout high school, although I did attain good grades, it was just, it never came as naturally to me as as something like sociology political studies, et cetera, or ethnic studies did.

And so when I took that introduction class, I was kind of like, oh my gosh, there’s so many terms. There’s to me parts of the brain that I need to learn that function this way and function in that way. So I was a little bit overwhelmed in that sense, but it did connect a lot with various things that I did.

Back or maybe did expect, but was really, really just like excited to learn about in both sociology and in in psychology as well. So that’s [00:53:00] when I ended up taking a brain and behavior course, and it was amazing. And it was the first time that I ever genuinely truly loved the science class. We’re in neuroscience and it was this neuroscience and psychology class and it was a blast.

And I just learned so much about the brain and I actually was really excited to, you know, get to know all the terms and what each part of the brain does. And that was a huge part of it was because I was currently doing research at that time within interracial interactions with friendships.

And so when I saw it. That a lot of our topics had to do with implicit biases and how we perceive race in the brain and how we perceive you know, biases in the brain. I was able to connect that right away with my sociological research at that time. So it definitely does fit. It just depends on how you want to fit it.

And you know, what areas you want to explore about.

Okay. This [00:54:00] will probably be our last question, but I think it’s a good place to end. What did you love most about your major and what did use this like about the major?

I think I could start really quick. I think what I liked most about my major was the opportunity to do my own research. I think that was super interesting and rewarding for me. And I had a lot of support from the department and from friends in kind of. Formulating and directing and translating that research into writing.

What I dislike, I mean, I think that there are a lot of super important discussions to be had in the field of anthropology around colonialism and and positionality and a lot of really important questions relating to how is the anthropologist related to the people that they [00:55:00] are studying. But I do think that in my particular program, there was maybe like a little bit too much discussion of that, of those questions in particular of like questioning our positionality and discussing it as opposed to entering the field and really.

Figuring out how to apply the answers that we’re finding to those questions. You know what I mean? So I think that in, in my particular program I would have really appreciated more actual application of those discussions. Yeah, I’ll leave it at that and let Jen continue from here. I loved sociology so much that I was kind of racking my brain as to what I don’t so much like about it.

So I’m glad you went for a slew, but okay. I guess to start with what I might not like about sociology so much, is that when you’re very excited about it, discussion because it is I’m going to use I-statements let me do [00:56:00] that. When I was really excited about a discussion, especially within. And being in a discussion group that was predominantly white and as one of the only women of color in that group, it was a very difficult moment to grasp, to grasp when folks were not able to understand that I was speaking from experience and I was in a way being shut down about, about what I was sharing.

So for example, I shared a certain experience during my social construction of morality class. And there was someone who said no, but that’s theory that that’s something that is you know, like that’s something about what I shared being just a theory. And then sort of it being neglected as a nuance you re-read it in my experience.

And I think that is just one of very few things I don’t like about sociology is how. It doesn’t always build into someone’s experience and positionality, as you [00:57:00] hope for it to, when you really get to understand the subject, Andy, however, once you do it, it becomes this like whole world. Just like, I guess like a whole new world and just like this enlightenment period, but every single person has a different path and different journey.

Learning within these field studies, no matter what it is. But I definitely think for me in sociology, not everyone will be in the same wavelength of what they understand what they can interpret and share. But overall, I really do love sociology because we can have those uncomfortable conversations because those uncomfortable conversations allow us to grow and really allow us to maybe like learn something that we feel comfortable learning.

But then, you know, coming out on the other side of that, No expansion. And I really love, you know, being able to learn and unlearn with just folks who were open to doing that.[00:58:00]

Okay, great. That’s the end of our Q and I thank you to the audience for all the great questions and thank you to our panelists, further great answers and insightful conversation. Here’s the information about our panelists again, if you missed it at the beginning and this is the end of our webinar.

We had a great time telling you about anthropology and sociology. We have a whole webinar series for February about specific majors, which you can see here. Thank you to everyone for coming out to take session. And thanks again to our panelists. I’m going to go ahead and add for webinar.