Hello world,
My name is Jaime F. and I am currently a senior studying at UCF in lovely Orlando, FL. I am a Women's Studies major in the Interdisciplinary program with a minor in Communication. Needless to say, I am also a proud feminist grrrl who is beyond excited to be enrolled in "Women and Leadership" this semester. It has been a long, often bumpy, road I've taken to get to this point in my academic career, but it feels amazing to know that I am so close to completing my degree and entering into the "real world" soon. School has always been my top priority after my family, so it was surprising to many, myself included, when I decided to move to Philadelphia on a whim this summer. The previous year had been extremely rough both emotionally and, in turn, academically, and the move was a way to prove to myself that I could handle anything life threw my way. Philly was an amazing experience (I got to live out my dream of driving to the Jersey shore during the day and watching baseball games at night!), and it pushed me in ways I never thought possible. I am beyond happy, however, to be back home in sunny Orlando, close to my family and loved ones, finishing my degree.
I am extremely interested in the area of women's leadership, because I believe that in order for a drastic shift towards equality in our world, the voices and activism of ALL, not just the privileged elite, need to not only be heard, but represented in politics, the workplace, community centers, and the home in the form of strong, powerful leaders. When it comes to women and leadership, I think it is especially important to focus on grrrls' potential to lead. Younger generations have the potential to radically change society, and it is with this belief in mind that I hope to obtain my Master's degree in Guidance Counseling and work with middle school youth to give volume to their voices.
I have previously worked with YWLP, a grrrl's leadership program on campus, for 3 semesters, first as a Big Sister and then as a Group Facilitator for a year. Through this experience, I was able to witness women's leadership first hand. Not only was I amazed at the take-charge action of the Big Sisters, but I was blown away by the leadership potential I saw form in the middle-school aged grrrls I worked with. These were 7th grade grrrls who were opening up about the gender biases they saw in the classroom, reworking magazine ads to make them more female-friendly, expressing their desire to be recognized for their intelligence in the classroom, and dreaming about being the first woman president. Through the amazing grrrls I met in YWLP, I have reworked my definition of leadership to mean
the ability to take charge of one's own personal space and turn it into a site of political action. Leadership is the ability to bring forth, justly and righteously, an environment in which everyone feels comfortable, included, and important, and from which radical, innoventive change can occur.
Leadership, through this definition, should not apply only to macro areas such as the political arena, but to all sites of public and personal life. Whether at a job, in the home, or in school, leaders should be people who pave the way for new ideas, not by dictating and forcing their own opinions on a group, but by rallying their peers to think creatively, work hard, and bring about a better tomorrow - together.
Through this class, I hope to come to a greater understanding of the challenges facing women, as well as all of those with restricted access to the realm of leadership, due to one's gender, sexuality, ability, race, etc. In turn, I hope to work together with the class to find solutions to this problem of limited access, and ways in which we, as individuals and collectively, can combat this issue.
I have read, understood, and agreed to the terms of the course syllabus and the blogging protocols, and greatly look forward to working with everyone this semester. It's going to be a great year!
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