So I’m not exactly answering this blog post prompt correctly because I am not developing a PowerPoint presentation, but I did want to share a poster that my amazingly gifted grad student Candace Parrish (hire her folks!) designed for us as part of the VCU Institute for Women’s Health annual event: Women’s Health Research Day.

As a communication scholar, of course I understand the importance of making sure folks are “getting” my message. I also believe that communicators need to be as clear and concise as possible, in order to avoid any sort of confusion.

As I’ve mentioned many times before to colleagues I’ve met at conferences and the like, I want my research to make a difference. I would joke how I’d prefer my work to be read outside of the white dudes in their ivory tower, and for it to make an applied, lasting impact.

If you were to imagine a dance, a song, a musical, a band, or live performance art to represent community-engaged research, what would it look and sound like?

As a Filipino American, I never really experienced racism. Tucked away in my mostly white NJ suburbia with my mostly white friends, I only really used my minority status if I needed it for a scholarship opportunity, award, etc. I pretty much took for granted the privilege I had by being educated with a steady income.

As we’ve discussed as part of #CuriousCoLab, community takes a variety of different forms. I’ve been very fortunate to consider myself a member of many different communities, including my academic homes of VCU (as faculty), UMD (as grad student), and TCNJ (as undergrad student). However, something I’ve discovered over the years is that non-academic/non-work-related communities are just as important, and can sometimes teach you more about life than you could have possibly imagined, or even find in the more traditional classroom setting.