The 2021-2022 school year is about to begin and we wanted to kick it off by introducing you to our scholars! This year, we had such a hard time choosing between a ton of incredible applicants. Ultimately, the five we went with are doing spectacular things in their communities and making life better for their LGBTQ+ peers.
Meet Grant Abbott, who is a student at Miami University, Ohio and is our Love Must Win scholar! LMW is an organization that works with the LGBTQ+ communities in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. We partnered with them in order to help their GSA initiatives in rural areas of these states and to co-sponsor a scholarship.
Read Grant’s essays below:
One of my most important values in life is to be a voice of change for others. As a future LGBTQ+ teacher and writer, I used to struggle with the worries of how I'll be perceived by my future students, how I'll be viewed if I include LGBTQ+ characters in my writing, and how I'll face society living from the margins. I come from an accepting family but I grew up with very little representation of myself and developed the mindset that my sexuality was something I needed to conceal in order to make and keep friends. On top of that, I have social anxiety which holds me back from my full potential even in basic conversations.
But since my junior year of high school (and after a couple years in college) I've started to find my voice and realize that I want to be an agent of change in my teaching. I've felt the judgment, the microaggressions, the worries, and the fear that come with letting myself be weak. I've started to really listen to the stories of others in the community who are not as privileged as I am, and I've truly started to develop into an advocate even though that voice is still developing.
One of the biggest steps I've taken in accepting myself is including a relationship between two men in one of my recent short stories. In previous creative writing classes, I was scared to write about my sexuality in fear that the story would be looked down upon; but, after writing it, I grew immensely because I realized I have the capability of telling my own story even through the fear that restrained me. I found myself in the words of the page and I haven't stopped writing my own story.
As my voice continues to grow and develop and I learn even more about the community I exist in, yet disregarded for so long, the scholarship will help me be a better mentor for my future LGBTQ+ students as well as integrating inclusive, LGBTQ+ narratives into my curriculum so we can share our stories with those who do not share our identities. I want all of my students to be welcomed into my classroom and see themselves in the classroom environment. As a teacher dedicated to change, it is important for me to include narratives that incorporate stories written by and about people who are BIPOC and LGBTQ+. With this scholarship, my furthered education and dedicating my teaching to my students will be more attainable and I will be able to jump into my classroom with even more drive to teach. Not only that, but I want to be an advocate for my LGBTQ+ students. Whether it's acknowledging LGBTQ+ events, leaders, narratives, etc., having conversations with students, or founding and running a GSA club at my future school, I will be the teacher that my students will know is there for them. I know what it's like to be voiceless so I want to be the voice for those in my class who don't have one either.
With this scholarship, I will continue to be the LGBTQ+ role model I want to be for my peers and students, and I will actively rewrite the heteronormative narrative pushed in schools around the country in any way I possibly can. I'm passionate about teaching English and I'm passionate about becoming an educator, but I'm also passionate about the lives of the people in our community and how we can create inclusive environments to build up people to accept who they are rather than breaking them down. I found the start of my voice and I'm beyond excited to enter a field where I can help others find and develop their own.
While I do identify as gay and nonreligious, as well as having social anxiety, I'm also white, cisgender, and middle class which means that in regards to intersectionality, I've had to assess my own implicit biases when it comes to wealth, gender, and race. Like many people who identify with multiple privileged and marginalized identities, I experience discrimination based on a few aspects of my identity and experience privilege based on others.
Even though as a leader, I always try to be a guide for others to help them find their voice, the most important value to me in understanding the intersectionality of others is to listen. Nobody can tell the story of their own intersectionality except themselves. This is so crucial to me as a leader because I cannot assume one's experiences when I'm at work, school, or anywhere in public just because of my own experiences. Even when I'm in my own classroom in a few years, I can only relay the stories of those who identify differently than I do. When I listen to the stories of BIPOC people and other members of the LGBTQ+ community, it's crucial for me to let them speak for themselves and be their own advocates. My intersectionality has impacted me as a leader because even though I feel (and very much am) part of a marginalized group based on my sexuality, I've put in the effort to become aware of my own biases where I experience more privilege than others which allows me to be a more patient, understanding, caring leader than one who assumes the experiences of others and tells their stories for them.
I am better equipped to be an inclusive, accepting leader that listens to the people around me and takes the time to hear people's stories rather than disregarding them. My mix of privilege and lack of privilege has given me perspective on what it's like to be both, and it allows me to stand by those who experience less privilege than me while also allowing me to understand ways in which those more privileged than me can assess their own intersectionality. I've become a much stronger, more dedicated leader over the last few years and I'm extremely passionate about bridging the gap between acceptance and ignorance in my everyday life.