Final Senior Seminar Reflection

There have been many moments this semester when I thought it would be too uncomfortable to continue through a conversation. There have been so many moments where the things I knew meant that I had a responsibility to contribute to conversation, whether I wanted to or not.

My main effort this entire semester has been to work to affect social change from my perspective as a white queer ally, and to help elevate the voices of those I believe have very important things to say. This year has been incredibly difficult for so many people, because of the amount of social change that has had to happen, as a result of the entire country having to confront serious issues the Trump administration had brought to life.

Science has always shown that as things come to light, they need to be investigated, and to be reported. The discoveries I've made in social situations as a part of my education and my extra-curricular activism have shown me an entirely new aspect to this country, in that people everywhere are meant to directly suffer at the hands of those who make the rules. My job as an American is to archive this, and to document the real lives of my friends, and to write music and to celebrate the identities of the people who are consistently left out of the conversation.

People of color, queer people, women, and other marginalized groups have had to coalesce more than ever, and that's important to me to be a part of, and the more involved I get, the more I wonder how much of an activist I had ever been if people I love and care about have been subjected to systematic abuse this whole time.

That being said, I personally have made many changes in my life this semester, but this couldn't ever be a final reflection because things have not gotten better yet. This is a long road to reforming and establishing social justice within our social institutions, and I intend to stand with the underrepresented people of this country that have been victims of abuse from this current socioeconomic system for their whole lives.

I primarily have been active in research concerning the environment, because that's one place I know I am distinctly qualified to be of assistance in, but I think that more than anything, Keene State has shown me how the political is personal. The spaces we engage with, the media we consume, even the food we eat all contribute to these problematic institutional devices of oppression, and choice is a huge part of what drives the capitalistic society we live in. We can effect change in so many ways, and there is a lot of power in acknowledging things we can all improve on.

Act Up, Fight Fascism.