Admission Essay Example: Forensic Anthropology As A Career

I became interested in anthropology, and later forensic anthropology, much later in life than I would have wanted originally. In my senior year of high school, I decided that I would go to Western Carolina University and study forensic anthropology because I was drawn to it. Within my first year at Western, I was given the opportunity to study abroad at an archaeological site in Romania for a month, and that experience was life changing. Spending nine hours in a ditch, five days a week, for an entire month was incredible. It allowed me to discover many of the other aspects of anthropology, rather than just forensic anthropology, and made me realize that though I loved the forensic aspect, anthropology as a whole was truly my passion. 

Upon reading the curriculum for Mercyhurst, I came to the realization that it was exactly what I wanted in a graduate program. It would provide insight into a variety of fields such as biological anthropology and bioarcheology, two of my favorite aspects of anthropology outside of the forensic focus. My current expectations for a career path involves getting a master’s degree, and eventually a doctorate. Certification is also something that I am considering, and teaching at a university is something that has also crossed my mind. However, I am open to job opportunities as they present themselves rather than focusing on one specific idea for what I want. My expectations are open for my future because focusing on one thing for me at least is a bit too much to think about at the moment. I believe that it is better to focus on a bigger picture because it allows me to have a more open mind for opportunities that I may otherwise ignore if it is not part of my outlook for myself.

One of the reasons that I decided to choose forensic anthropology as my career path was my interest in bones, osteology, and taxidermy. Taxidermy has especially always been an interest of mine as early as five years old, and it has continued to this day. I find researching animal and human bones to be very captivating, and taking a research class my last semester of undergrad solidified that research was something that I seemed to enjoy. I took around ten hours a week researching my topic during that class, and it never occurred to me that it was boring. Instead, I took it as a learning opportunity and I allowed myself to enjoy doing something that I would have not expected myself to enjoy. I had never enjoyed research prior to that class, and this was another aspect that seemed to confirm that this was something that I wanted to do with my life.

My passion keeps me motivated to continue my studies and feeling only anticipation when I look over the curriculum and schedule of classes for what I could do in the future has provided me the confidence that I am where I should be in life.