Intellectual Autobiography by Diana Emerick

1. Some big influences

1.1. Two major influencers in my life would ironically be the same people that prompted my idea to take Interdisciplinary Arts and Science. My cousin Sia and her husband Steve are both incredibly naturally smart people. Sia is a high school teacher and she works at Herman, and Steve is a doctor. Steve also had an extremely high average in high school and university.

2. Views on the world

2.1. One major world issue that I care deeply about is saving the environment. Recently, there has been news that we as a society have 12 years to reverse the effects of climate change before catastrophic events start to occur. I was saddened to hear this news and have started doing small things to reduce my carbon footprint. Some of these things include recycling more, using less plastic bags, and unplugging chargers that are not being used.

2.1.1. I have felt this way about the environment from a very young age. I remember being in first grade and my teacher telling us that the earth needed our help. Learning that information and being that young was very scary to me.

2.2. I come across many social issues on the internet, but one that I have a strong opinion on is the Black Lives Matter movement. Seeing recent events that have occurred like lynchings, multiple shootings and incidents of police brutality have made me very sad. I think that there is a great deal of white privilege involved in the shootings of unarmed black people that needs to be addressed.

2.3. I'm not a very political person. But one of the saddest moments that I recall ever experiencing was watching Donald Trump win the 2016 US elections. The day after his victory was a terrible day for many people who had just come to terms with the fact that bigotry and hatred had won. I think that Donald Trump is one of the most immature people to ever exist and am appalled at the things he is allowed to say and get away with. The fact that he won the election says a lot about many citizens of the USA and their values.

2.4. When I was little, the idea of religion was very comforting to me. I had been told to think a certain way by my grandparents and stuck with it for the majority of my childhood. As I got older, I began to lose most of my interest in religion and did not really follow any type of religious practice. I still want to believe that there is something out there, I just don't exactly know what.

3. My education before interdisciplinary studies

3.1. I only went to one grade school from the age 4 to 13. I went to Central Public. Near the end, I was not the biggest fan of this school and I was ready to move on from just about everything to do with it. I was ready for high school very fast. I do still talk to some friends that I made at Central, however.

3.2. After Central, I went to Vincent Massey Secondary School. I did genuinely enjoy my high school experience because of the memories and friends I made. As for the educational aspect of high school, Massey did prepare me very well for university.

3.2.1. I received the honour roll for each of the four years that I spent at Massey. I also took enriched English in grades 10, 11, and 12. It helped me develop a liking for the subject.

4. How will interdisciplinary studies help me in my program of study?

4.1. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do in the future, if I'm being honest. However, I have been considering speech-language pathology. Speech-language pathology is interesting to me because it combines the science of how the vocal cords work with psychology and verbal skills.

4.1.1. This job would clearly involve combining the disciplines of psychology, science, and English. Being in an interdisciplinary program and learning about interdisciplinary methods of thinking would be very beneficial if I choose to pursue it.

5. Key events in my life

5.1. I remember the moment when I was about nine years old that I developed my first true hobby. I was in the library of my elementary school, browsing some of the artwork that the older students had made. I looked through the drawings and instantly wanted to try and make some of my own. Ever since then I have had a genuine passion for drawing and to this day I'm still trying to improve.

5.2. In April of 2017, I accomplished something that made me feel good about myself. I had taken my lifeguarding course one time before and failed it before retaking it and eventually getting my certification. A couple months later, I got hired at the same pool I passed the course in. In doing all of this, I was reassured that I can do anything as long as I try.

5.3. The best vacation of my life was in the summer of 2016. I went to three parts of Greece with my family: Chania, Santorini, and Athens. It was the first time I had ever travelled outside of North America and it was a great experience.

6. Where and when I was born..

6.1. I was born on August 4th, 2000 in Windsor, Ontario to Paul and Helen Emerick.

7. Why did I choose interdisciplinary studies?

7.1. The reason I heard about this program was because both my cousin and her husband chose to take it in university. They had been telling me about it for a while before it was time for me to choose my courses and it was among my top choices. I ended up choosing it in the end because I realized that I had a talent for writing and was also interested in the sciences. Instead of picking just one, it seemed beneficial to integrate them both.

7.1.1. I realized shortly into taking this program that there is a bigger need for interdisciplinarity than I had previously thought. Complex problems in the world need to be seen with more than just one perspective. It's very helpful to see things with the aid of different disciplines working together.