“What we want to do is bridge those gaps because we're all human.”
— Elizabeth
“I grew up in a rural small town. I like to long board. I love anime a lot. I'm kind of a weird, but I like to go to conventions, that's fun. I like to be outdoors. I like to go to the gym. I love to try new foods. I just feel like as long as I'm spending time with my friends and family, I'm pretty much down to try new.”
“For me being a first generation student, it's really important that I incorporate some of the values that I have into my practice and professional goals. My major is in counseling, school counseling specifically, and I'm in the Masters program. Remembering multiculturalism, diversity, and advocating for students with different diverse backgrounds, undocumented students, things like that. So for me, it's kind of like my goals align with things and experiences that I've had.”
“Helping other people and seeing other people as part of your community, comes when you take responsibility where that other person matters to you as much as the other people.”
a sense of solidarity.
“Belonging has a lot to do with taking responsibility. And when I say responsibility, I think I mean, instead of seeing other people's problems as their own and which we usually do because we live in a very individualistic society in America, I feel like it's more about seeing other people as your responsibility, your community, a sense of solidarity where you care about them like you would about your own family.
So when we divide each other between “they”and “us” it doesn't allow any room for “we.”
So really helping other people and seeing other people as part of your community, comes when you take responsibility where that other person matters to you and valuing them as human beings deserving of respect.
And so what we want to do is bridge those gaps because we're all human. And the only reason that some people struggle and other people don't, has to do with barriers that are systemic, that go beyond things that we might not subconsciously be able to fully grasp.
So for me, belonging has to do with taking responsibility.”
“We have more in common, than we do that's different.”
