{"id":156128,"date":"2024-05-06T12:25:01","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T18:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=156128"},"modified":"2024-05-10T10:31:33","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T16:31:33","slug":"commencement-feature-learning-about-humanity-and-herself-seiva-cunningham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=156128","title":{"rendered":"Commencement Feature: Learning about humanity, and herself | Seiva Cunningham"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Seiva Cunningham<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

When Seiva transferred to UCCS from CSU Pueblo towards the end of the pandemic, she was undecided on major, unsure of her place at the university, and \u201cjust hoping it would work out.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she graduates this week, she will have a strong community of peers, faculty and staff standing behind her, a renewed sense of self, and a well-laid plan for her future (and, importantly, the understanding that the plan may change, and that\u2019s okay).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t feel like I was being pushed or challenged in Pueblo,\u201d she explained. \u201cSo I took a risk and applied at UCCS. The university was able to just kind of manifest in a way for me that was really doable at the time, and still is.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She started at UCCS in the spring of 2021 and thought about doing art history, but took a general education class on cultural anthropology and thought it was cool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd then I just kind of fell in love with it, the program, the department,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt felt very natural, and I never looked back.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite not knowing a lot about anthropology at the time, it immediately clicked for her.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI knew it was the study of humans, but I fell in love with the study itself, the social science, the practice, being able to work with and study people,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt was so overarching and it touched so many other things that I felt like so many doors were opened for me. There were so many opportunities, and I was able to get in touch with parts of myself that were really important to me.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she took a biological anthropology course, she realized how much she enjoyed learning about medicine and the history of medicine.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudying the really early nature of medicine, of humanity, how we grew and evolved, it\u2019s a cool excuse for me to say that I\u2019m into science without having to do the hard sciences,\u201d she laughed. \u201cSo I love biological anthropology, and that made me realize where I wanted to go with my career.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through an internship, Seiva also had the opportunity to work on the Timmerhaus project, getting to represent the entire department as a liaison. The Timmerhaus project allowed students to curate information from others in their major program about how the research, creative works, and community-based outreach in the program impact spaces and experiences in our city and local landscape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got to meet all of the faculty and staff and see what kind of projects they were doing outside of the university,\u201d she said. \u201cI also got to meet with alumni, and some of those alumni are my friends and mentors now, and I\u2019ve had so many doors open for me outside of the department and the university because of that research project, so I\u2019m incredibly grateful for that.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeiva is an incredible student who has developed her passions for thinking about the intersections of race, health and social class in anthropology,” said George Bayuga, Assistant Professor of Anthropology. “She’s an amazing example of a Colorado Springs student who is\u00a0drawing on her roots to make a truly global impact.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seiva plans on earning a master\u2019s degree in African-American studies, specifically looking at the history of medicine.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe five or ten-year plan is to study the history of race-based medicine and how they affect BIPOC populations in this country today, with the hope of changing some of that narrative and being able to support people of color in the medical field in ways we haven\u2019t really looked at before,\u201d she explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to start my master\u2019s program,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve been able to network myself and now there\u2019s a lot of possibility. The people I want to work with have worked with the people who taught me. And that makes me feel really confident, especially in terms of the workforce.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one thing UCCS has definitely taught me, that you can learn to network and put yourself out there in a lot of different ways, and that has made me feel much more prepared,\u201d she continued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seiva has been able to work with departments across campus, including a job with the College of Education, even though anthropology is in the College of Letters, Arts & Sciences.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve really enjoyed working with different people, different departments, different colleges, and kind of seeing their experiences, it\u2019s been really fun for me,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve found that, even though I didn\u2019t necessarily have the time to do the clubs and organizations on campus, being able to work on campus has been really fun. Being able to create relationships with faculty and staff that I don\u2019t think I would have been able to create just being in their classroom, that\u2019s been fun too.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Seiva’s journey at UCCS is a testament to her remarkable dedication and impact,” said Sarah Long, Assistant Dean for the College of Education & Director of Student Affairs. “From her first semester in Spring 2021 as a transfer student, she showed exceptional leadership qualities and provided unwavering support to her peers. In her role as the Social Media Manager for the College of Education, she organized impactful initiatives around diversity, equity and inclusion, which fostered deep community engagement while advocating for positive change. I am honored to have had the privilege of teaching her first course and being her supervisor at the end of her UCCS academic journey, a true bookend experience. Seiva is a true leader of today and a beacon of hope for the future.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the strong connections and relationships she has now, finding a community on campus wasn\u2019t always easy for Seiva.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was hard at the beginning to assimilate into campus culture, coming from online during COVID and then coming back into an environment where I was on campus every day,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a little bit anxiety-inducing, trying to get back into the classroom. It was hard to find my place here at first.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the anthropology department that helped Seiva start to feel like she had a home at UCCS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving such a small department was a blessing.\u201d she said. \u201cThe whole department is in one hall, and it was really nice, because our professors were so committed and they were always there, without hesitation, and brought me in so well. And having the small class sizes, the small group that we had, meant I had the same students in almost every class. So it was all of that that helped me realize my position here and my worth.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anthropology has consistently helped Seiva learn more about herself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt sounds super cliche, but we do anthropology for class, and then it\u2019s like psychology for us, where we\u2019re assessing ourselves,\u201d she laughed. \u201cYou get an idea of who you are, what you like to do, how you want to function in society.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studying anthropology has also helped Seiva through difficult times and a personal loss.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a person who naturally knows how to process things like that, but it just so happened I was working on a final project called \u2018The Anthropology of You,\u2019 where you take something you\u2019ve learned and assign it to yourself and talk about it, and my final was about how studying grief has helped me process my grief, and that has helped me tremendously \u2013 being able to think outside of myself, and outside of my situation, to help me understand that situation,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor sure, anthropology has helped me understand not just people, but life events, like weddings and funerals, why we celebrate and why they\u2019re important. I\u2019ve learned how to assess myself and my understanding of the world, but also how to assess other people and their understanding of the world as well,\u201d she continued.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her advice to other students is, as they journey through college and learn about themselves, to try and learn about their professors as well.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLearn about their history, learn how they got to UCCS, that has been super valuable for me,\u201d she said. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s really nice to talk to someone who is at what you perceive to be your end goal: they\u2019ve graduated, they have their doctorate \u2013 and to see how their life has weaved and turned and gone up and down, it\u2019s comforting and it\u2019s a good reminder that you can make a plan, but anything can change, and sometimes it\u2019s really good.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike for me, going to UCCS wasn\u2019t in my plan, and I came into the college in a not very good place, just hoping it would work out, and it worked out in incredible ways,\u201d she concluded.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to lean on the faculty and staff and ask them questions and ask about their experience, and what it\u2019s like to move forward in life after college. Everybody is quick to support you \u2013 there’s always somebody that will help you out.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Seiva transferred to UCCS from CSU Pueblo towards the end of the pandemic, she was undecided on major, unsure of her place at the university, and \u201cjust hoping it would work out.\u201d\u00a0 (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":156297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[86,42,110,332],"class_list":["post-156128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","tag-college-of-letters-arts-and-sciences","tag-commencement","tag-department-of-anthropology","tag-more-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Communique-Featured-Image-Seiva.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-ECc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=156128"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156288,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156128\/revisions\/156288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/156297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=156128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=156128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=156128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}