S-Stem Scholar Jaira Munoz Zavala's Blog

 MY MAJOR: FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST TOPICS IN FORENSICS: Three years ago, I did not know much about my career. I knew that involved autopsies. Also, I knew I needed to have a strong stomach—primarily because of the smell.  I just started to take forensic classes. So far, I’ve taken two courses: Introduction to Forensic Anthropology and Sociology of Murder. The laws behind every procedure are what surprised me (and also scared me). For instance, I taught an autopsy is an obligatory procedure in every death. However, there are different types of autopsies. In clinical autopsies, an autopsy is performed in a specific part of the body (not all the body).  Before I started this Major, I wanted to go to Medical school for Forensic Pathologist. However, I learned that now forensic anthropologists are being trained more. They don’t just work with bones but also decomposed corpses. After learning about this field, I decided to switch to this one. I thought that just identifying eve...

  Gratitude letter and past self advice People I'm thankful to:  I’m thankful to multiple people for helping me to get where I am today. First, I’m thankful to God. As a Science major, it is sometimes hard to defend my beliefs against some science facts. However, believing in a greater power is what helps me to move on in life.  I’m thankful to my parents, who gave me an education, home, and support. In Mexico, my parents enrolled me in private schools. My friend’s parents paid for everything they needed it. For me, it was normal to have parents who pay for everything. When I moved to America and enrolled in Independence High School, I realized how lucky I was. Most of my friends and cousins worked from an early age. My cousins started working when they were in elementary school. For most of them, it wasn’t an option. Their parents did not help them, and if they did, they had to pay their parents back. Once I started college, my parents wanted to pay for my education...

The future My Goals: For the last three years, my long-term goal was to be a forensic pathologist. Also, I wanted to do humanitarian forensics on the border of the country. I was hoping to use my art skills to do some forensic art in the absence of DNA for identification.  Nevertheless, during the pandemic, I started to doubt these plans. I feel more burnout. I realized that I needed more balance between school, work, and my personal life.  I should be graduating either in the Fall of 2022 or Spring of 2023. I’m almost done with my art classes for my Sculpture Bachelors. I still have more classes to take for my Forensic Bachelors.  1 YEAR GOAL: For the last couple of years, I’ve focused on surrealistic art. Most of the themes I used are the human body and plants. However, they are not accurate.  This past summer, I took a class on sculpting anatomy. I learned multiple skills to sculpt the body muscles and face. Now, this semester, I finally sculpted a real baby. My s...