During my freshman year of college, I took my first study abroad experience to the beautiful country of Morocco. It was a 2-week trip during Winter Break 2018-2019 that I will never forget. I was nervous to travel that far outside of the country, but I had to put my anxiety aside because I would […]

I am grateful for being a part of the HDFS 450 Practicum class with Dr. Ebata and Samantha Iwinski. I was blessed to have been matched at Promise Healthcare as a medical assistant student intern. I would not have developed my medical and professional skills without everyone’s help at Promise Healthcare and in HDFS 450. […]

As an HDFS senior, it is bittersweet looking back at the mark I left both on this department, as well as four amazing years at Illinois. Right now, I am actively applying for jobs and am very excited to begin my career as a Human Resources professional. This past semester, I was lucky enough to […]

I had the opportunity to intern at Crisis Nursery during the Fall 2020 semester. Crisis Nursery is a 24-hour emergency based childcare center that creates an “Island of Safety” for families in the community. I was afraid that COVID-19 would interfere with my experience, but my time at the center was enriching and impactful. I […]

The James Scholar Honors Program has allowed me to make the most of my experience as a Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) student. I completed challenging yet engaging honors assignments to fulfill my four honors credit course requirement. I presented a research poster at the Undergraduate Research Symposium with the help of Dr. Brian […]

Before the spring semester of my freshman year at UIUC, I received an email inviting me to apply for the James Scholar program. I told my roommate Allie at the time about it and she encouraged me to apply as she was in the James Scholar program in her college and how there are a […]

When I started on campus my freshman year, I swore that I would never get involved in campus research. Many times, when people hear the word research, they picture white lab coats and test tubes. I did not think that is what I wanted to do. While some research on campus involves these items, it […]

I initially did not apply to be an HDFS major. The summer after my senior year of high school, Diana Rodriguez, the Chicago recruiter for the College of ACES, told me that I would love the HDFS department and consider switching my major. I remember being hesitant to change my major so early in my […]

For me, as a 37-year-old nontraditional student, I can say that I absolutely use concepts and ideas I have gleaned from HDFS in my life. Of course, there are theoretical concepts that could probably be applied to various aspects of life, but I am talking more about the welcoming, considerate, interpersonal framework that underlies nearly […]

My favorite HDFS class is HDFS 220: Families in Global Perspective. At first, I wasn’t for sure how much I would enjoy the class because I had never taken a global studies course. As the class resumed, I was enjoying class more and more. We were exploring a variety of factors that affect families in […]