*disclaimer, long post ahead*
I'm about to be annoying and let you all in on all the nostalgia I'm feeling as I wrap up my last semester of my undergraduate career -
The major I fell into is Human Development & Family Relations, a small major at CU Denver that we all tirelessly have to explain to anyone who asks us about it. HDFR is a major that focuses on families through a social justice lens. We study and research how environmental influences places major implications on families in the United States and around the globe. We learn how intersections in our society create social injustices, and we learn how to participate in the struggle of our human brothers and sisters. We are trained to become culturally competent professionals and social justice empowerers in any kind of helping profession. I cannot thank HDFR enough for being more than an undergraduate major, I must thank it for also being a place I call home. The professors and students I have had the pleasure of working with have become people I will forever look up to and come to advice for. These are the people who made me feel like college was worth the unbearable amount of money, as my experience has shaped the mentally strong person that I am today and who I am going to be in my professional career. I have learned so much about what it is to be a companion to our human brothers and sisters, and my love for this world has only grown bigger and stronger through my studies in HDFR. Whether it was my countless papers on social justice or my hands-on experience in my volunteer work, in my internship, or my summer in Sevilla, HDFR has opened my soul up to the channels I did not know I had. I am so eager to pursue these channels in my future, and I will forever look back to HDFR for giving me the strength and permission to do so.
So cheers to you, undergrad 🍻 its been one hell of a ride
