Spring Anthropology Awards

Melody Trejo-Lopez was born in Watsonville, California and has resided in Colorado since she was five years old. Her cultural, academic, and professional background have guided her interests in the fields of anthropology, sociolinguistics, and library science. In future academic studies, she wishes to study library science specifically within the context of accessibility issues concerning race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and language. She has a vested interest in analyzing the barriers present in public libraries and how those barriers can be mitigated, especially concerning language and socioeconomic status, because she comes from a Mexican immigrant family: being a native Spanish speaker, she knows firsthand the difficulties in finding an institution that can offer free and reliable resources to the community. In her future career, she hopes to be able to trace areas of improvement within library structures and provide ethnographic studies into the communities surrounding libraries to better serve multicultural and multilingual patrons.  Melody has exceled in her courses in anthropology, and demonstrated her knowledge and enthusiasm for her coursework. For these reasons, the anthropology faculty have nominated Melody for the award of Outstanding Student in Anthropology.

SJ is a military “brat” who has lived in Colorado Springs since they were three years old and has always loved digging in the sandbox. They grew up watching all kinds of historical films including National Treasure and Raiders of the Lost Ark. While these movies have very little to do with actual archeology, watching documentaries every Sunday and visiting many museums, national and state parks with their parents, contributed to their thirst for knowledge about the past. In 2019, SJ took their first anthropology class at Pikes Peak State College and knew this is what they wanted to do for the rest their life. They transferred to UCCS for the fall 2021 semester to Major in Anthropology.   

SJ enjoys all parts of anthropology, but archeology is their favorite. In summer 2022, SJ participated in a local field project led by Prof. Colin Wren and Anna Cordova, Colorado Springs Archeologist. SJ’s diligence in their field work and interest in the archaeology of Colorado Springs led to an internship in spring 2023 to analyze the material culture from the field project and to assist in writing the technical report for History Colorado with recommendations to help protect the archaeological sites.SJ will graduate in spring 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. After graduation, SJ will spread their wings and apply for overseas graduate programs with a focus in studying the Paleolithic Archeology of early humans. SJ’s goal is to work in museum curation or for a Cultural Resource Management agency to help uncover and protect humanity’s past. The Anthropology faculty nominated SJ for this award for their hard work throughout their archaeology coursework and for their willingness to learn diverse skillsets to invest in their future.