BLOG 3, LSC 394 (Spring 2021)

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 sculpture teacher taught me to make silicone molds (usually needed in the forensic field too). 

Therefore, this year I want to focus on sculpting skulls and faces in Monster Clay (a wax clay). I have rushed through my education, but I want to be proficient in this part of my education. Thus, I hope I’m able to sculpt an accurate face by next year. 

GOALS AFTER GRADUATION:

I want to work for a year before going to Graduate school. I want to review material and focus on my personal life. If I decide to leave the state, I want to have a stable place to live in. 

5 YEAR GOALS:

Here, I should be doing my Masters in Anthropology. After learning more about my career choices, I decided to choose this. I will not have to be worried about learning the basics of anatomy sculpture. At this point, I should just be practicing.

10 YEAR GOALS: 

In my personal life: I should have my place by this time.

In my professional life:  I want to be able to volunteer more in the forensic field.  I’m still deciding whether I want to get a Ph.D. or not. 

HOW IT BENEFITS MY COMMUNITY:

I come from a small town in the center of Mexico. I hear stories of family members that disappear when crossing the border. Also, some people have family members and friends kidnapped by narcos. Finally, there are multiple mass graves in the north of Mexico and the desert of the border. I want to help families to find closure. 

When I was a kid, I found the forensic field fascinating. Crime shows like Bones, Criminal Minds, NCIS, etc., make this field exciting. However, as I grew and understood, not everything is like in television. I might live in America, but kidnapping, murder, and mass graves are regular topics in my life. Most of my family and friends are from Mexico. Thus, I would like to help them with these problems. 

Societal Challenges:

Many societal challenges worry me. I believe, at the moment, the environment and education are the most important.

ENVIRONMENT: 

When I lived in Mexico, My mom scolded me if I left food on my plate. If anything got broken (tv, fridge, phone, shoes, etc.), we sent it to fix it. In my hometown, multiples places focus on fixing things. Something was thrown away when it was impossible to fix. Old clothes were made into cleaning cloths or given away. 

It had its problems. Most people, including my family, were wasteful with water. I started noticing the issues of climate change when the temperature changed. It used to have mild weather with few hot days. After the rivers got contaminated and all the woods cut down, it got hotter. 

I was more in shock when I came to America. People throw everything away and buy new items frequently. My family had the same fridge for more than 15 years. Here, a family friend changes fridges, living room, etc., once every year or two. 

When I worked in a restaurant, I was amazed to see the waste of food. Sometimes people only had a spoon of their food, and I had to throw the rest; also, one full meal at Denny’s is enough to feed three persons in Mexico. 

I think a waste of resources and climate change is already affecting the world.

EDUCATION:

I have mixed feelings about the educational system. In Mexico, everyone is pushed to be at the same level. This stops students from advancing but also from being left behind. 

When I came to America, I was in high school. I did not know English. However, I was still able to notice that Mexico’s public education was better. For instance, the math classes were covering topics I learned three years before. During the years I was in high school, my study pace got slower. It was hard to start college for that exact reason. High school here doesn’t prepare students for college—unless you’re in Honors or AP classes. 

Once in college, students have to pay an enormous amount of money. Before the STEM scholarship, I did not receive any help from FAFSA. I had to pay out of pocket. I was able to pay for Community College, but not for ASU. For the first year, I had to use loans to pay for school. Thankfully, now I’m able to pay for my education. Still, there way more students in different majors who are not able to receive this type of scholarship or financial support. They only have two options. They go into debt or have half of their focus on work.  

CHALLENGES IN THE FUTURE:

I believe these are the challenges that will matter in 10 years and 20 years too are:

• Civil rights
• Climate Change
• Lack of natural resources
• Education
• Health Services
• Freedom vs Security

Some of these challenges are being addresses. For instance, people have paid more attention and given more support to civil right movements. 

For others, society has to be educated about the problem. For problems like health services and freedom vs security, we as a community have to push these topics, so new policies are created. 

Optimism in the Future:

I'm hoping things will get better when my mom receives a green card. My parents are already in their late fifties. My dad lives here in Arizona, and my mom in Guanajuato, Mexico.

I lived in Texas by myself after high school, but after a year, I returned to Arizona. I'm not too fond of the idea of leaving my dad alone. Most of our family is in Mexico, and he has lived alone for 15 years. 

I like to think of the day my mom comes to live with us in America. I'll be able to explore more places without worrying about leaving one of them alone. 

When I think of that day, I like to check out places I would go or do. Most likely, I would go on a road trip for one week. Then, I'll come back to my routine. I also like the idea of living in another state or city (at least for few months). 

These thoughts motivated me not to drop all my classes this semester. I want to be done with college when that day comes.