Why did you decide to study anthropology at UTSC?

I chose a major in socio-cultural anthropology as a placeholder/potential interest POST as I has been briefly introduced to it in grade 11 and found it interesting enough. After a few courses in both the evolutionary and sociocultural courses it grew on me, landing a sweet spot between academic-enough yet not a field that failed to engage me, so I chose to keep the POST. I was under the impression that I could double major in the Evolutionary and Sociocultural Anthropologies for my bachelor's. I later found that I had to choose only one, so I chose the B.Sc as it was a bit closer to what I thought would appeal to the grad schools I'd be applying to.

What is your favourite part about the anthropology program?

What I love about the Anthropology program is, again, the sweet spot it hit for me. In the evolutionary field, it was fun and not too overwhelming a science to get into. It introduced me to many scientific fields without getting daunting, such as geology, biology, ecology, musculoskeletal anatomy, and even a tiny bit of astronomy. In the sociocultural field, not to sound cliché, I truly felt that the insight into cultures from around the world, and a critical look at the biases we come to accept gave me plenty to think about and help put things into perspective. It dispelled a lot of illusions for me about people from around the world - what may look like poverty to us is a way of life that works for others, yet others put on a guise of poverty and what looks like "backward" living for their own profit. Not every population aspires to a Western lifestyle, and there is no such thing as a pristine tribe of humans untouched by globalization and modernity.

Any advice for new anthropology students?

Several things I always tell everyone, especially if they're going into anthropology:

1. Regardless of whether you’re specializing in sociocultural or evolutionary anthropology, get ready to take a lot of the other field's courses up until the very end of your bachelor's. That's just how the credits work out. You’ll have to face your fears if you don’t like humanities or science reading and writing.
2. This applies to all avenues of life, but don’t assume you’re better than the extra help available to you. The professor’s and TA’s office hours are there for a reason. They’re the ones marking your work and it’s only fair you know what they expect and how to best approach it. My professors at UTSC were very kind and down to earth people, and helped me out a lot every time I asked for it.
3. You’re not realistically going to get your work done if you don’t do it efficiently. You hear this a lot but this is coming from someone who just went through it – university will take up as much time as you give it. You will be assigned roughly 60 to 80 pages of readings by each anthropology course every week. If you’re taking a full course load and try to take in every detail on every page front to back, you’ll end up learning nothing and waste all your time, and eventually get sick of studying. There is a correct way to read humanities and science, and it often means learning the main takeaway of the reading as it informs the weekly theme and any details that support it. Ask your TA’s or professors about this, they’ll tell you what this means.

What’s next for you after graduation?

I am going for a Masters in User Experience Design in the downtown campus. There was a 4-year bachelor’s prerequisite for it, and Anthropology is what got me there. I could not have remained a good student and done as well as I did were it not for Anthropology hitting that aforementioned academic sweet spot for me. If I were a more academically inclined person, I’d have without a doubt chosen a future in Anthropology.