My Interests: Connecting through Words--Reflection 6

I’ve hit a wall, and it has been scary, trying to get my bearings again. Sometimes life throws curve balls, but our job is to dodge those throws or do our best to recover. My wall is my future career interests. I’ve always leaned towards the idea that I wanted to get into diplomacy, which I've realized was just me meshing with my surroundings, and with those who have most influenced me. However, during my bridge-year experience, I was able to realize that I do have a passion for bridging the educational disparities that are not only a product of a poor educational system,but also an issue within development. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that I am interested in Educational Policy and Social Justice.

Along with this new shift, I had the opportunity to attend a social justice march on Freedom Plaza. The main motivation for the march was the seeking of reparations for women who have either been victims to or have died at the hands of forced reproductive and sexual Labor. The experience of attending this march was a very dynamic experience because though the numbers were expectantly low, it was interesting to see the demographic of supporters. Many of the attendees were not only black women, but members of the LGBTQ community and immigrants. I learned about many of the recent hate crimes against the lives of black trans women, and many profound factoids that most likely applies to even my ancestors. We marched from Freedom Plaza to Farragut, and at the end of the march we had a memorable candlelight vigil ceremony for the women who have lost their lives at the hands of forced reproductive and sexual labor. 

In relation to class, my newly directed interest and the March I attended draw a connected line to the impact of interest. It was my personal interest and realization that brought me to the revelation that I wanted to switch my interest area to Educational Policy and Social Justice. As far as the event, the shockingly low number of attendees shined a light on the priority in the community. Though black women are fighters for many causes (that do not always target their communities), when it comes to organizing an event that directly serves and is a fight for them, the support is miniscule. This is a fact that I hope changes as more awareness is raised concerning the issue.