Vote No on 6!

(The Great Mia and Myself Letting Voters Know the Deal)

"Vote as if your life depends on it."

Newsflash: It does. It did and the way things are looking, it will. I had the amazing opportunity to stand up for women's health and reproductive rights. I volunteered with the Feminist Majority on the "No On 6" campaign against Amendment 6. If Amendment 6 had passed, it would place restrictions on access for women to abortion and would have deleted a right to privacy clause from the Florida constitution.  Thankfully it didn't pass. I don't believe that there should be any limitations on the decisions people make over their own bodies.

I was able to work with some amazing people during this campaign and I got to talk to a lot of people. What I've learned about volunteering with campaigns is that not every one is going to be on the same page with you and there's nothing wrong with that. You can't change everyone's mind. The goal is to let people know why this is important to you and to all of the people that are impacted by the issue and hope that they make the best decision. Not everyone will have a peaceful and calm conversation with you but I learned that you can't let those people get you down. I had to decide in those situations that I was not letting anyone keep me from standing up for what I think is right!

While volunteering I was able to talk to voters while tabling on campus and phone-banking. The above photo was taken on campus near one of the polling centers. We high-fived so many voters that day. I was only able to phone bank once for a short period of time but it was a real memorable hour of calling voters. A lot of us phone banking spoke to at least one older woman who had already seen this fight for reproductive rights and could not understand why it's something that's still being voted on. I spoke to several older women who sent me good thoughts and praises for fighting the good fight. Messages like those encouraged me to keep going and made it easier to deal with people who aren't so nice over the phone.

This was a great experience for me--one of the best from this last semester. I believed I grew as a person seeing how my small contributions can really make a difference.

Fall Semester = Over

I made it! This semester wasn't as hard on me as my spring semester but I'm glad that I made it through. The last two weeks were pretty rough but it looks like I made it! I'm actually really proud of myself for this semester. It's not like I got straight A's or anything but I really do feel like I'm growing as a person and as a student. I handled my battles this semester very well. I was able to better balance my academics and my social life while still getting the hang of taking care of myself. I got work done. I experienced new things and I put myself out there. I'm trying my best to make sure that I continue to do that.

I'm getting closer and closer to graduation so I'm finding that school demands a lot more of my attention and commitment. I'm learning to prepare myself for life in the real world. It's scary but it's also exciting and frightening.

This past semester, I tried to take advantage of every opportunity that allowed me to do what I love. I spent a lot of time standing up for what I believe in while also building my resume and gaining experiences that will help me later in life when I'm helping others. I've felt really empowered doing what I love and knowing that I'm helping people. By standing up for what I believe in and what I know is good, I've been standing up for people whose voices need to be heard. I know that I still have some more growing to do. I'm still healing and finding myself but I think I'm getting better at this whole "calm and carrying on human" thing. I see what I want to do and I'm taking steps toward that. I'm going to write about some of my experiences from this past semester individually but I wanted to quickly list the amazing things that I feel empowered me this semester.

• Coalition to End Rape Culture
• Fitsmi Internship
• No On 6 Campaign
• Volunteering for the Obama campaign
• LGBT History Month internship
• Community Service

I'm learning more and more that if  focus on what I love without losing sight of the reality of my school work and how it relates, I can keep afloat. I can make a difference. My Women's and Gender Studies major reminds me of the importance of activism and advocacy and I'm finding ways to incorporate those things into my daily life and it's keeping my heart happy. I like that.

 ♥

So, what's the cure?

I am so sick of all the sadness. We can keep running and running but It always finds us. I'm sick of the inequality among people. It's all too much to handle sometimes. I'm sick of the mistreatment of others. Its horrible to see people judge others over simple things like the kind of music they listen to and the way they dress. It's true that people don't see eye to eye on everything but that does not mean that if you disagree on something you can never be friends with that person. It's so wrong! It's not fair. It's just really horrible.


How can people treat others so mean? How can anyone be so horrible to other people even without having had the chance to get to know them. "If you judge people, you have no time to love them" -Mother Teresa.
Why is it so hard for us to listen to what one another and appreciate what others have to say?

Imagine if you were talking and no one could hear it. Imagine all the words you said being thrown into a black hole. It is so depressing. How can we fix it so that everyone's voice can be heard and appreciated?

I'm so sick and tired of people who have the same dreams not getting along at all. So tired of people who want the same thing fighting over who can do it better. If someone want to help you, unless it's absolutely unnecessary, let them. It's okay to be helped sometimes, especially if you want to do something like making a better world.

People can be so evil sometimes and it is so hard for be to be nice and just ignore it. It's hard for me to want to keep writing nice things to people. It's hard for me to keep helping people even when no one says thank you and I'm just left feeling unappreciated. But I do everything in my power to just ignore it and saw "f**k it," I'm not going to stop my nice efforts because of mean people.

So....
If anyone is reading this, you're beautiful and perfect in every way. Don't let anyone tell you that you're not a special person. Be nice to others because we're all precious and it is wrong to harm anything as precious as a thinking and feeling human being. We have to appreciate others more for the sake of the world. When we leave this earth, we should leave a place filled with love and happiness, not pain and despair. We should leave a place where no one is abused and bullied. Where depression is only found in history books. I believe that someday the world will be a better place but we all have to start working on it today.