Dear America,

This morning I walked into a room of tearful high schoolers, scared of what this new presidency might bring to their families. This morning, I had to reassure my seniors that they could still go to college and that their parents would still be there to watch them graduate. I know this to be true because my students and I have then honor and privilege of living in California, a state that looks like us and votes like us. California privilege aside, we must all come together as a nation to ensure that ALL our students feel safe, loved, and valued. The ruthless election rhetoric has left students emotionally and spiritually bruised. This new generation of students cannot grow up believing the democratic process is dead or that "votes don't matter." I shouldn't hear jokes about how "We'll visit Oscar in Mexico" or how "Emmanuel has to go back to Africa now." Our students' jokes belie real concerns. They have heard this hopeless and xenophobic rhetoric from someone and they have considered it thoughtfully enough to repeat it. If we want to effect change, we cannot project our disaffected attitudes onto the youth of America, killing their democratic spirit before it's even had the chance to act. To say that we are disappointed is a gross understatement. The fight still matters. Even if progress has been delayed, or reversed, it just means we fight harder and love EVERYONE more. Tell the students they can change it all. Educate them so they can. Encourage them so they fucking do. Respectfully yours, Ms. S

In my five minutes of spare time

I would like to take the opportunity to express how unbelievably grateful I am to be doing what I’m doing. I had absolutely no expectations walking into UCLA’s Teacher Education Program, but one week in, I’m so incredibly excited to start on this mission of being a teacher-scholar-activist. The fact that I get to go through this journey with twenty-one thoughtful, caring, and just generally really awesome people makes this experience even better. 

I could tell ten minutes into our first group meeting that we were all going to, not only work well together, but create genuine, meaningful relationships with each other. There’s already been talk of socials, and study groups, and team Halloween costumes. This past weekend, a group of us went to the LA County Fair to support one of our own who was dancing folklorico. Even though we had just met just 5 days prior, we all meshed so well with each other that it really wasn’t strange. 

So bring on the stress, tears, freak outs and break downs, because I’ve got an amazing team backing me up and we're going to make a difference. Watch out, we're social justice educators. 

This was great on so many social justice levels. And just plain hilarious. How did Brad Paisley think this song was a good idea? 

But seriously people, you can't be "accidental" racists or accidental homophobes. Race and sexuality are very deliberately enforced social constructions. So when you say "that's ghetto" or "that's gay" as derogatory statements, you are participating in a culture of marginalization that has been around for decades. You may just be realizing the implications of your words, but its no accident that you've been kept in the dark for so long. Ignorance and marginalization are how society maintains its power hierarchies. 

Obviously saying it's society's fault for your racist and homophobic speech acts doesn't quite solve anything. Personal responsibility doesn't go away. Ignorance is a curable condition. I'm just saying, these events are not accidents in the scheme of our lives in society. 

Disclaimer: I couldn't bring myself to listen to the rest of Paisley's song so if he redeems himself in the rest of the song and renders my arguments moot, I apologize for the unnecessary lecture. 

P.S. Alan Cumming is the epitome of the perfect man. 

It is now "mid-March"

I think waiting for a UCLA acceptance letter is more agonizing this time around. 

March 15

It's so close, but yet so far away. My future is in limbo and I'm choosing this moment, amidst all my final projects for this quarter, to lose my shit. Please accept me again UCLA!!! I have no back-up plan!

I was in the Downton dumps, but God said, "No, you shall be happy tonight!" and so I have plans to go clubbing...at the Abbey. That's poetry. 

Me. Tonight. Alone in my apartment. It was kind of awesome. Sorry downstairs neighbors.