Mini Honor Reflection

In the late 1950’s to mid-1960’s, the transgender community faced discrimination such as physical and verbal harassment, denial of social spaces, and alienation in the media. This matters to us today because transgender individuals are still existing and are a part of our human population today. The community is also still struggling to find their representation in the media and in society. The transgender community is still facing a wide array of types of discrimination, from nasty looks to denied access of education. Gender identity should not be taken into consideration when determining another person’s worthiness of respect.

I also arranged for a speaker from a youth program who discussed current laws facing all educators in my state, as well as the academic ramifications from them. Following the training, two LGBT students completed a gender support plan developed with the school counselor and the parents of one. This included a simple form for teachers to use so they know what pronoun the student prefers, which gender they identify with, and what options the student has when using the restroom. The students were provided with access to the staff bathrooms in the student services office, as well as a place to change for physical education and theater when needed. Another form of evidence was through providing teacher support and resources regarding the legal rights of transgender students in Show Choir to wear the performance attire that matches the gender they identify with. Through discussions with the performing arts teachers, they were able to prevent negative comments when two transgender students wore the attire that matched their sexual

The reading in this assignment made me understand and appreciate the lives of others. Transgender are just like you and me. They have the same goals and inspirations. However, their hardships are more drastic then normal. I got the chance to be educated on trans 101 with this assignment. I have taken so much away from these readings. It has helped me be more understand of what transgender go through. Having the opportunity to have the two articles side by side to make my notes and analyzing. Finding the connections between the two and disconnect from society to transgender communities.

American society today is not any different from the past, except today people are apt to discuss everything publicly on various social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram just to name a few. Transgender persons happen to be one of those subjects that have become the hot topic of the new normal. Nowadays there are blogs, tweets, and pictures posted online of people’s transition “coming out.” Like the past, society is still tough when it comes to judging each other. Although transgender might not have had a recognized community in the past, it is prevalent that society is becoming more accepting of their community, and aware of issues their community faces. In this essay the names, nouns, or pronouns used will be in accordance to the individual’s preference.

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been attending most Transmissions meetings. Transmissions is a community-based club for transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people and allies at Rutgers University. In this reflection, I’ll be speaking about the meeting I attended the previous week, where the main discussion revolved around internalize and externalize transphobia and self-care. This was a very sensitive topic for myself as well as most others who attending the meeting.

Sara's confidence in my abilities as a social worker sparked self-belief. With supervision, I designed a presentation on diversity with an emphasis on transgender populations. At the weekly staff meeting, I facilitated a group discussion to avoid attacking John. The presentation was successful, mitigating many staff members' confusion with transgender populations, including John's. The presentation proved helpful for discussion and improved the staff's understanding of

The United States is a divided society. We like to categorize ourselves according to political affiliation, race, and religion. We are members of the middle, low-income, or wealthy classes. We choose what seats to sit in during a football game according to the team we are rooting for. It is oddly comforting to know that you belong. All too often, however, transgender youth are denied that sense of ubelonging because they defy society’s categories of male and female. The gender binary divides society into two separate, unequivocal categories that marginalizes transgender youth and directly impacts their emotional health and well-being. Society’s collective response of demeaning, shaming, and violence further increases the divide.

One of the greatest features at The Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush is that it is a very diverse school. At Rush there is many different cultures, lifestyles, religions and languages all merging together into one large community, which helps many students meet people who were raised and live differently than them. Some students could even relate or connect to a religion, way of life, or may even discover something about themselves that they never knew before upon meeting individuals that share that trait. A friend of mine who goes to Rush knew very little about what it meant to be Transgender, but now that he has met other people who are Trans at Rush, it has helped him discover that he had been Transgender his whole life, and had never realized

From the Big Apple to the Windy City Lakeland High School FBLA traveled the 815 miles to attend the National Leadership Conference in Chicago Illinois. The National Leadership Conference is the biggest and most anticipated conference of the year and is also where members of FBLA have the opportunity to see who is the best of the best by competing in competitions that they qualified for at the State Leadership Conference. This year Lakeland High School FBLA had seven competitors competing in Future Business Leader, Parliamentary Procedure Team, Job Interview, Banking and Financial System and Help Desk. All our competitors spend a lot of hard work and dedication studying for their competitions unfortunately however our competitors fell short this year of getting on stage. Even though none of them placed at Nationals, Lakeland High School is proud of them making it as far as they did and the hard work they put into their competitions. In spite of that this year Lakeland High School had a lot to celebrate at the conference.

Link Crew: I was involved my Junior year as a group leader. My partner and I were able to lead 14 upcoming freshmen with their Freshman orientation. I was able to gain qualities of a leader and it helped me gain confidence to speak in front of a crowd.

Going into my senior year, I am one of the few juniors who can say I have had a regular place and appearance on Columbus’ Medley Service Club since freshman year. Medley Service Club has allowed me many leadership opportunities both within and outside the meetings. Within the meetings, I have taken leadership by note taking

As Vice President of the CBHS SHAPE Club, I have acquired many leadership skills through overcoming obstacles and learning to communicate with my peers. Being a leader is much more than having power or simply being in charge. The skills necessary to effectively guide a group of people towards success goes way beyond the title. Holding a position of leadership, no matter how big or small, is a huge responsibility. One must be committed, reliable and organized. Most importantly, a leader must be proactive and efficient. In other words, a leader must be willing to do whatever it takes to reach his or her group’s goal. In order to do this, one must be able to delegate tasks to ensure that they are all completed adequately while making sure that all members have an opportunity to participate. In addition, a leader must be open-minded to change and must be willing to take risks.

For my award, I decided on the topic of the LGBTQ+ community, and specifically helping students who are in the community. This topic has, I believe, become even more important with recent current events. Despite whatever alternative facts that may be presented, members of the community, especially the young ones, are scared and worried for their future and what may happen to their rights. I am planning a number of things to help out, the most important being the panel that will take place in May. For this event, I will be inviting the eighth graders from North’s sending districts. I tried to directly help out at CTMS, but was ultimately turned away. I may also be helping to start up a group for LGBTQ+ students outside of school, with the help of a former

The announcement for the future community service event, members had a few other events to add to the council's agenda, prom, graduation, and college. Conversations quickly began as members started asking each other about prom colors, acceptance letters, and graduation.

I chose an article titled, “A Community-Based Program Evaluation of Community Competency Trainings.” The article evaluates a community-based program intended to improve providers’ knowledge, skills, and awareness regarding transgender and gender non-conforming individuals’ health. This article caught my attention because of my interest in transgender health and previous work in cultural competency training. A few years ago I had the privilege of acting as a friend of mine’s post-op partner following her sexual reassignment surgery. Through that process I learned a lot about accessing transgender-friendly healthcare. As I was sitting in the waiting room during one of her follow-up appointments, it really sunk in that she and I had driven