“We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community – and this nation.”-Cesar Chavez

When we think about working across difference and acknowledging the many identities in our community, it is important to consider the significant social, political, and historical influences that inform how we work with others individually and within systems. During my time at Mason, I have had the time to critically reflect on the ways that my identities play a role in the ways that I interact with individuals, groups, and systems.

My experiences at George Mason have transformed me to be someone that is passionate and intentional about exploring identity and privilege and promoting social justice across communities. My first year, I spent time in different spaces and found myself in several workshops about diversity, but still held a simplistic and juvenile understanding of what “diversity” actually means. My sophomore year, I attended a Social Justice Dinner Dialogue that was hosted by my Resident Director, Aaron Hood, for members of my residential community. I recognize that exact moment as the turning point in my commitment to learning about diversity and social justice.

I believe that having a commitment to issues of diversity and equity involves showing up and being willing to unlearn many of the previous lessons taught through a dominant society and challenge that narrative. I spent about a year after that original dialogue reading books and articles, attending workshops and programs, and trying to learn as much about social justice as I could. Some of these programs included a White Conversation Café, Safezone Training, UndocuAlly training, and many more that targeted diversity in race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, social class, etc. I have also expanded this passion into my course work by taking class suchs as Politics of Race and Gender, Black Social Movements, and Social Justice Education. I fully intend to continue learning through class, books, programs, and various other forms as I continue to understand the impact of this process personally and at a larger level.

Simply learning is not enough. With awareness, we must commit to taking action and incorporating social justice into our both our work and our daily behavior. As a leadership consultant, I have been able to incorporate much this awareness into our programming. I have had a role in encouraging my fellow leadership consultants to consider including critical analysis and non-dominant understandings of leadership in the conversations and programs that we host. For instance, there was a time we were planning a “Women in Leadership” Brown Bag Lunch. Through the planning process, I realized that the program perpetuated a binary understanding of gender and eliminated many gender identities from the conversation. We worked together to adjust the program to be “Gender and Leadership” and opened up the conversation to include genders beyond the binary and across the spectrum.

These opportunities have all been a huge part of developing my understanding of social justice so that I can use my strengths to be active in fighting systems of power and oppression. There are so many opportunities to question and critically analyze a dominant system at work, and maintaining a justice-based, global mindset allows me to ask those questions in the spaces that I operate.

I am continually grateful for the atmosphere of social justice and diversity that has been cultivated around me through some of the staff and faculty members George Mason and beyond.  I am constantly inspired to learn more about experiences different than my own and engage in conversations that will challenge me to look at the world through different lenses. I look forward to continuing to learn and then inspiring others as I become a mentor through my work in Student Affairs. Had it not been for the one conversation and continued mentorship that inspired me in the first place, I would not be where I am today.