Reflection Paper

Only as an adult have I been able to appreciate the unique freedom of my childhood in rural Pennsylvania. My parents were members of the working class trying to improve our situation by living within their means and sacrificing their expendable income to augment my education. In many ways, I did not grow up like other children in my wealthy town, my clothes were second hand, I had to work as soon as it was legal, and school lunches sometimes fell beyond my means. I certainly did not experience the poverty of my family relations who are immigrants in New York City or industrial workers in Redding, PA. I learned the value of my education from the long hours I put in at the university industrial plant while working as a research assistant in the Department of Political Science. My parent’s strict policies and insistence on my participation in the arts and athletics helped me to become a successful and creative student, capable in the face of adversity because of my working class background and queer identity. My experiences working and

I currently volunteer as an intern at a community development corporation that provides housing for Portland’s low income and immigrant families. I attend voluntary trainings for handling and responding to trauma symptoms that our residents may have experienced in the past. Understanding the effects of trauma on all segments of the population, as well as the historical traumas of marginalized groups, has affected my perceptions of trauma and helped me to recognize the necessity for compassion and the creation of safe spaces. My professional experiences and personal background in activism and allied social justice organizations have contributed to my world outlook and the way I conduct my classroom and professional