Derek PhD, Art History Tenure-Track Assistant Professor

Abstract

Los Angeles has always been a part of who I am. The city, the coast, the surfing; I can’t imagine living anywhere else. Academia is also a big part of my identity, but I didn’t realize that until later on in life. My father was a university professor in the social sciences before he went to law school, so by the time I was born, he was both a lawyer and a professor. As a kid I was always on a college campus. I went to college in LA—the same school my parents had both attended—but I got there on a sports scholarship, not through academics. Up until my sophomore year, I thought I was going to be a professional water polo player. Back then, when I thought about my future, which I didn’t do very often, I imagined a continuation of my sports-centric life. I was happy doing what I was doing: going to workouts twice a day, being a student-athlete. Everything changed when I hurt my shoulder during lifeguard training. At the beginning of my sophomore season I had to stop playing.

This academic path was not even acknowledged where I went to grad school. But it all worked out. Everything I did that I shouldn’t have done, that they told me not to do, it all actually led to me being successful on the job market.