My GSEC Experience
I am a first year and I am interning at the AS Gender & Sexuality Equity Center (GSEC) for spring semester of 2013 for the women’s program. I wanted to intern during the fall semester, but I missed the deadline. I asked myself if this was something that I really wanted to do and the answer was yes. So I told myself that I would intern my next semester and I did. I was determined and it was the first thing I did when I returned from winter break. When I first stepped into the GSEC I thought to myself, “This is where I want to be.” There was something about the GSEC that resonated within me. Once I started my office hours for the semester I quickly learned something about myself; I didn’t know the subject of feminism or know what inclusive language was. I’m a nutrition & food science major and everyone in the GSEC has a major that is related to women’s studies, topics of sociology, psychology, etc. I definitely felt like I was out of the loop. In the beginning of the semester I felt weird being different in a group of people that had known each other for a semester prior to spring. I soon realized that many were new interns like me. The GSEC is a safe and inclusive space and I allowed myself to break out of my shell of shyness. I began to ask questions to inform myself more about the subject of feminism and learn more about the LGBTQ+ community. I was quick to assume that just because my major was different that I would be ostracized, but I was wrong. The GSEC staff interviewed me and thought that I would be a great candidate for their internship. I couldn’t comprehend at the time that someone wanted me. It took me awhile to understand that it’s ok to be different, it’s ok to not know something, and it’s ok to ask questions so you can further educate yourself. The GSEC has given me the opportunity to know myself as an individual and to confide in others. That’s something I didn’t have prior to my internship, that’s something I didn’t have before starting college. Being an intern at the GSEC as forever changed my life in a positive way. I’m so happy that I was able to experience this internship. I am eternally grateful for everything that I have learned through the GSEC. Whenever I tell someone that I intern at the GSEC I am able to share my experience and they see how happy I am and they want to experience that too. That happiness stems form acceptance of my own being. Acceptance of my own opinions and thoughts and to be able to validate my feelings and experiences. I love to help others and with my experience at the GSEC I can do that because I share my experience, I am no longer shy and I have the ability to speak my mind and not be afraid. Thanks to the GSEC internship I am an empowered individual and I want others to have the opportunity to be strong as well. Whenever people ask me about my internship I can say with all honesty and certainty that it was one of the best decisions of my life and most likely the highlight of my college career.
By Candy Pahua
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