My father migrated to the United States seeking security amid the violence and political turmoil of 1970s Jamaica. My mother left the island in search of better educational opportunities and the prospect of a brighter future. With their guidance, I developed a tangible relationship with my heritage through near-annual family visits to Jamaica. We learned the history of Black Jamaicans fighting against injustices inflicted by British colonial rule when touring the Morant Bay Courthouse. We admired Edna Manley’s intricately carved sculptures and Kapo’s brightly colored paintings at the National Gallery of Jamaica. On these visits, I connected with Jamaican scholars such as Rupert Lewis, a professor emeritus of political science, Maureen Warner-Lewis, a professor emeritus of African-Caribbean languages and orature, and Erna Brodber, a sociologist and author who researches her rural hometown of Woodside, Jamaica. Conversations with each of these individuals about their work and knowledge of the Afro-Caribbean experience emboldened me to study the African diaspora through the lens of the social sciences during my time in college. I am now pursuing a joint degree in Social Anthropology and African American Studies. Through my coursework, I have taken an ethnographic route to better understand my family’s journey to the United States. By interviewing members of the older generation in my family, I have written two term papers highlighting their story: “Perspectives of the Second Wave: Observing a Jamaican-American Family’s Experience with Race and Ethnicity” and “From Having a Barrel Child to Raising a Latchkey Kid: Grandma and Mom’s Separation and Reunification Story.” My exposure to my heritage from a young age inspired me to uplift my family’s story through my coursework, documenting it for generations to come. I aim to continue to use my academic training to honor the experiences of communities that are meaningful to me.