Students in Human Development and Family Science spend their time learning about the development of human beings, beginning at birth and even prenatally, and extending all the way through the end of life. They learn how to help people be their best selves and live the highest quality of life they can. So in HDFS, students learn how to apply science to everyday problems. But what we do in HDFS is we help students learn how to use the science, the scholarship, to inform the work that they do as well as their everyday lives.

I would say my favorite part of the HDFS program is the hands on opportunities that were offered. You can have practicums, research experience, and you can do a required internship at the end of your education. And all those are just such enriching experiences that really allow you to put your classroom work into practice.

Volunteering at the Early Learning Center here on campus, I was able to get that hands on experience with children, having that real life interaction with them hands-on and being face to face with them. While also going to class and sharing what I've learned with my professor and being able to receive real life feedback was awesome.

In HDFS, we have five paths for learning for our students. So early child development, childhood and adolescence, adulthood and aging, child life and family life education. It allows our students to really choose the path that is best fitted to their interests and what they want to do in the future.

The field of Child Life is growing tremendously. So knowing that I'll be the person to pave the way as an African American woman, and just showing other girls like me that this career is an option is really what I want to do.