02/20/2025
A note from Abigail Turner. TCG Anthropologist
Happy Anthropology Day!
Everyday I'm happier that I decided to pursue my degree in anthropology. I started my journey having no clue what anthropology was. I started my college career with a random elective I chose because it sounded interesting - Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. I was a history major at the time, but the class immediately peaked my interested. In fact, to me it felt like it seamlessly fit into what I was learning. Why do people do what they do? What leads to war? What leads to all the big clashes we've seen in history?
Obviously - some people just want power. But so much of what I was seeing was cultural differences and the belief your culture was the best and no one else who had morals different from you was worthy of respect, sometimes even life.
In my anthropology classes we deconstructed some of the things we were talking about in my other classes and I realized just how applicable to everything anthropology is.
What is anthropology? In simple terms, it's the study of what makes us human. Whether that be culture, biology, our long and distant past.
I detoured and skirted around anthropology for 2.5 years. What would I be able to do with a Bachelor's degree in anthropology? I knew I wasn't going to be ready for graduate school right after I graduated. But, I knew this was my passion. It made sense to me and felt more natural than anything else I had ever studied.
Over my 4.5 years in school I learned about cultural relativism, the U.S.-Mexico Border, even taking a week-long school trip there, medical anthropology, and the technical skills needed to be an anthropologist.
I had never been happier in a classroom than when I was in my upper level anthropology classes. This, in a way, has become a very long thank you letter to everyone who helped me get here - to my professors, my family, my friends, the field itself.
Today, I'm incredibly grateful that I get the opportunity to share with others what I've learned, and to use that to help people understand others different from themselves.