Aiyana Swansons Blog

Two of the most influential ideas I have learned from my research are the difficulties trans people trans face in their everyday lives and how messed up our society is. I have always tried to understand the complexity and challenges that transgenders go through. It is so heartbreaking especially when I looked at the number…

Ever since freshman year, watching the seniors do airbands was my favorite event that north held. The moment I saw Tyson Amoo lifted up into the air as a freshman, I knew it was what I wanted to participate in at north. I came home and vividly remember watching airband videos from previous years because…

So, a few weeks ago I wrote about being completely undecided. I was split between Kentucky and Iowa for the longest time. After visiting Kentucky, they ended up letting me down so much. I went there to find out a lot of little things in their teaching program that wasn’t worth me going there for….

When I tell you that I have the worst case of senioritis, I am telling you that I have the worst case of senioritis. Watching my sister go through it was bad because we were online for the second semester of her senior year. So I actually didn’t think it existed. But god I was…

Oh, the way I have absolutely no idea what my life is going to look like in 6 months. I have spent months pushing off the idea of college and figuring out where I want to go. I have been choosing between the University of Kentucky and Iowa for a long time and now, I…

The 1978 poem, Still I Rise by Maya Angelou presents a defensive speaker, implied to be a black woman, in her face of abuse. This stirring poem is filled with figurative language. The message was overall discussing the resilience and strength that black communities are continuously showing through discrimination. Starring off in the first stanza, Maya…

Just my luck. Have been waiting for winter break since the moment school started. Hanging out with my friends that are home from college, going to the gym, having my own free time, Christmas…then boom. A positive covid test sitting right in front of me. Everything completely went down the drain. I even got my…

Holy cow. Never did I think that senior year would come so fast. I remember me being in elementary school wondering what the number 22 meant on one of the standardized tests. My teacher told us it was the year we graduated high school. I thought, “wow that’s in a long time!”. Everyone says high…

I love Christmas. It’s not the opening presents at 7 in the morning while my parents are cranky that we woke them up too early. It’s actually our traditions that we do on Christmas eve. My family takes Christmas very seriously. We decorate our house the same week as Thanksgiving and start our christmas shopping…

Stereotypes are something that has been around forever. Though, for myself, I never had a problem with them until recently. Most people are surprised when I answer the question “what ethnicity are you?’ and I tell them that I am 50% Indian. I get many reactions, like shocking comments, jaws on the floor, or maybe…