My Self Assessment

How I became a Black Studies major here at UCSB is...kind of a funny story. I never thought Black Studies would ultimately be the major that I ended up graduating with a degree in. But what's ironic about the whole thing is that the path I was on has changed, but my goal has remained the same. I entered UCSB as a Psychology major with a minor in Speech and Hearing Sciences, in order to pursue Speech Pathology as a career. This would have been a great way to enter into the field, but the amount of science and math was definitely a "no go" for me. During that very...very painful quarter here of trying to find out what I was going to ultimately do with my life, then being between majors, I was taking Black Studies classes, just for fun. I wasn't going to be another one of "those people" majoring in Black Studies (so I said), because what would I do with a Black Studies degree?? (so I also said). My how time changes things.

After taking courses such as Black Studies 1, 3,4 , 5, 38A-B, 129, 142, 106, 124, and many others, I asked myself why, though these classes were not required of me, was I was still finding myself taking them quarter after quarter? I think it was the fact that there was so much content that I could relate to that made it so interesting to me. I learned that nothing in my life happened because of coincidence, and everything I experienced had some type of systematic or historical underlinings that ultimately shaped my experiences today. From housing, to the high school I attended, the food that was available to me, and even my coming to UCSB. Learning about the privileges of whites and the disadvantages of people of color, encouraged me to want to learn as much as I could about my history, and be able to take that knowledge into my real world experiences within my profession. Now, I don't just want to do Speech Pathology, I want to do Speech Pathology and serve school districts in communities of color that can't afford to have a Speech Pathologists work with their students. Now, I don't just want to help children with speech impediments, I want to help distinguish the difference between one's biological speech impediment from what may just be a part of their African-American culture, such as African American Vernacular English.

Thus, by now being a Black Studies and Linguistics double major, I can take my profession and serve communities where I am needed, using my knowledge in both of these fields to better identify what areas would benefit from my services the most. I no longer consider myself to be another one of "those people" majoring in Black Studies. I am instead finally able to recognize the worth of a Black Studies degree, and the extent to which I can help others through the knowledge that I have acquired.