Name: Carmela Escalante
Instagram handle: @carmela_cheers
Majors: Anthropology; Nutrition, Exercise, and Health Sciences
Minors: Classics; Archaeology
Hometown: Tracy, California
Year at UNL: Senior (I still have a 5th year)
Favorite book and why: My favorite book is called Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper. It’s a book about a kid with cerebral palsy who finally gets the chance to prove to so many people just how smart and capable she is. I read it when I was in elementary school and I think it very much shaped how I viewed the world, and it is still my top book to this day (I still cry every time I read it…no spoilers!). Also they quite literally just made and released the movie for this book last week on Disney+, haven’t seen it but I hope they did it justice.
Favorite movie and why: I love old spoofy movies. I would always watch them with my parents, Spaceballs, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, literally any Eddie Murphy movie. But my all-time favorite has to be Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Any Mel Brooks film is good in my book but this is the classic Robin Hood tale with some more adult humor.
Why Anthropology?
Originally I came to UNL in the athletic training program under the pre-physical therapy route with a minor in Classics mostly just for fun on my part. I was interested in exercise science as well as the medical field so I was trying to focus on that with athletes, but I was also that textbook Percy Jackson kid who got obsessed with mythology early on. Eventually I decided to switch to Nutrition, Exercise, and Health Sciences to broaden more of the classes I was taking under the health field. Through Classics and some ACE classes I found out about the Anthropology program and fell in love. I wanted to incorporate them together and realized I could with medical and forensic anthropology. I’m still sort of hobbling together my own combined education to incorporate the two but UNL has some of the best programs for both areas and I really like all that I have been able to do here.
I definitely suggest trying new anthropology classes even if it’s something you might not be interested in the subject. It’s a great way to broaden your knowledge, or in my case to narrow down what I wanted to focus on. And honestly, a class with any of the Anthropology, Classics, or SGIS professors are great, at least all the ones I’ve taken so far. If you really don’t know what you want to do, or what major to choose, hear this. Anthropology can be anything. Anthropology is the study of people, it can be medical, it can be cultural, it can be linguistic, it can include digital and physical components, you can learn about Ancient Greece or the Great Plains. Anthropology is truly a great buddy major and expands your view on a lot of things.
Extracurricular Experiences:
I have an upcoming Study Abroad program in Greece for this fall. I wanted to focus more on the Classics aspect of my classes for this and chose to go to Greece to learn straight from the source. I think being taught by multiple perspectives helps to reinforce major ideas and it’s also just something I’m really interested in. I’m also involved in multiple clubs on campus which is a great place to make new friends and find a group for yourself. As an out of state student that was something I was definitely worried about it once you have something in common it’s a lot easier to find your people.
Post-Graduation Plans:
I plan to go into a medical anthropology masters program. I’m not really sure what I want to do with the degree ultimately, because I honestly just like continuing to learn. I hope to be able to do research and projects and just overall establish myself as a voice within the medical anthropology community. Like I said you can apply Anthropology to really anything and with that it leaves me a lot of options. Makes it not as stressful if you’re not sure what you what to do ultimately with your career.