About Me
My name is Michelle Raphael (she/her). I am 17 years old and I am a senior at Sport and Medical Sciences Academy. This past year has been very hard on me as I came out as transgender. I became increasingly depressed and anxious leading up to the school year. It became so bad I could not attend school, but once I came out and started making changes I began to feel better about myself, and was able to come back to school as myself two months in. But I am still facing challenges. Being out as trans in public puts a lot of anxiety on me because of the current attitudes towards transgender people. I want to help change these attitudes in my school to help create a safer environment for trans youth. This inspired my Gender Education project.
Mission Statement
I want to make the world a better place for people like me. I feel I need to give my community the voices that it needs to be seen. This is why I wish to go to college for and pursue a career in writing. I will be attending the Hartford campus of UCONN in the fall and major in English. I wish to have a career where I can express myself and speak my mind. I value nothing more than kindness and respect, which will help me form the relationships that I need to succeed. My life will be fulfilling if I can leave positive impacts on people.
Overview
This project focuses on educating the senior class at SMSA on the topics of gender and trans issues. This idea came from a need to address the current climate and its negative and often misinformed attitudes towards transgender people. The structure of the project is to gauge attitudes and knowledges of transgender issues in class and provide education in the form of presentations. In the spring, the project expanded to include a display in the library highlighting transgender-led writing for Trans Day of Visibility.