I participated in Mason's SafeZone training program this spring and was both surprised and pleased on what I learned. I have a new-found respect for students who self-identify as LGBTQ and I am proud to call myself an Ally of this community. I learned a great deal about gender, identity, gender expression and so forth. I also came to better understand transgender and transgender issues and concerns. I was especially moved by a former Mason student's tale of transitioning from male to female while an undergraduate student. At birth, she had been assigned a male gender, but as she grew up, she felt, thought and identified as female. Her story and the story of what her family went through to help her in her transition was riveting. Because of my experience with the SafeZone training program, I decided to do more research, participate in more LGBTQ community-related discussions and activities. I directed what I learned into my Diversity in Higher Education class. My final digital media project can be found on a website that I help to manage for a community group I belong to...(in case you're trying to figure out the name).
I am very proud of this project and the personal growth I experience this semester. I am most appreciative of my sister's technical help in putting this together. With a pending move, a three hour time difference (she lives in CO), a five year old, and a husband getting ready to be stationed in Afghanistan, she took time to look at my materials and to help me navigate a digital media software (ShockWave) to put this together. Thanks sis!!!!
http://www.orleantrailsystem.org/nconwell/
OR
http://www.orleantrailsystem.org/nconwell/
