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After 15 years in corporate diversity work, Indigo ’26, ’27 pursues both a B.A. and M.A. at CIIS while discovering what it means to show up authentically in community.
When Indigo was looking to finish their bachelor’s degree, they looked first into their own past. They remembered friends’ experiences, and who they had seen change for the better. They remembered watching lives transform. They remembered those friends had gone to CIIS.
Inspired, Indigo interviewed for the program, met with faculty. These conversations led to a sense of even greater connection, and the conviction that CIIS would provide an experience and environment where students could be themselves. “I really felt like I would come here and be deeply met,” they said.
Now enrolled in CIIS’ B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies— and simultaneously pursuing an M.A. in Transformative Leadership through the accelerated program — Indigo is experiencing that transformation for themself. They expect to complete their bachelor’s at the end of 2026 and their master’s in 2027. The decision to take on both degrees at once was not made lightly. But the programs felt attainable because they were consciously designed for working adults with full-time jobs and families.
The student culture is we’re here to pursue our education and really push ourselves, but we’re also here to help uplift others. And that’s really uncommon.
Indigo, B.A. Interdisciplinary Studies and M.A. in Integrative Health Studies
Even so, Indigo has spent the last 15 years working in corporate settings, so becoming a student again was a significant shift. Part of what made the transition easier was the CIIS’ intentional focus on community within the classroom. The Interdisciplinary Studies program operates on a cohort model, meaning students move through the year with the same group. Over the course of the program, students are not lost in a crowd. They can deepen their connections with one another.
For Indigo, that structure has been transformative. “People are just authentic with each other,” they say. They describe a moment last semester during a project that required students to share a creative expression. “Everyone in the class was basically tearing up because of the vulnerability, because of the open sharing and the way that those things were hitting us deeply.”
Their connections extend beyond class, innovating with digital spaces and the online format. The cohort maintains a group chat where, on hard days, everyone virtually circles around the person struggling and says, “You got this. We’re going to get through this together.”
The contrast with their previous experience at a state school is stark. “The structure and the culture, it’s sort of like every person for themselves,” they say. “That’s not the vibe you get here. The student culture is we’re here to pursue our education and really push ourselves, but we’re also here to help uplift others. And that’s really uncommon.”
When asked to describe a favorite class, Indigo finds it difficult to pick just one, although they eventually settle on one they took with Professor Zara. “Social ecologies was incredible. I can't say enough things about that class in particular because it really, especially in this time where we're struggling to stay rooted in our ecosystem and our exposome, the ways in which we're all interconnected and deeply impacted by the things happening around us, it just really shed light on that as well as how we can continue to weave a web of community to deepen just how we come together.”
Beyond the classroom, Indigo has noticed shifts in how they move through the world. “I have felt the somatic impact of what it looks like and feels like to take ownership and accountability of unpacking systemic ways of being that have just been part of my culture for generations.” The process of decolonizing has in turn changed how they interact with the world, including how they spend money, engage with community, and set priorities.
“Community has always been important, but it’s taken a different shape as a result of being here,” they reflect. Indigo is excited about the professional path they are building — one that integrates the social justice and intercultural development skills they are gaining at CIIS with their years of experience in diversity work. They are pursuing entrepreneurship, channeling what they learned into their own practice.
Just as they were once inspired by others, Indigo has a message for anyone considering returning to school. “If you’re thinking about continuing education or making a change in your life and you’re skeptical about that, the biggest thing that was helpful for me to remember is that I’m worth it and it’s worth the time investment,” they say. “You’re worth it.”
So has Indigo changed in the ways that so inspired them to see in others? Emphatically yes. “I can really feel profound shifts in my body with respect to what I'm learning and how I'm able to apply that into my immediate sphere of influence, my immediate sphere of community,” they say. “I feel like I'm only in the beginning stages of that journey, but so far I think what's really standing out to me is the way that I show up in that community care and the way that I am stewarding, lifting other people up as I continue to rise myself.”
If you’re thinking about continuing education and you’re skeptical, the biggest thing is to remember that you’re worth it and it’s worth the time investment.
Indigo, B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies and M.A. in Integrative Health Studies
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