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Final blog

As I research deeper into the history, struggle, achievements of the gender minority community, I was able to understand their hardships through decades. Although I might never be able to resonate with the individuals on the level of personal challenges, I was able to learn a lot from the novel, historical stories, statistics, and modern stories. In my annotated bibliography, I included the supreme court case, Obergefell v. Hodges, that allowed nation wide gay marriage; a poem written by a queer man who carries guilt because of social stigma; the famous riot of stonewall; a transgender teen’s first hand blog; statistics about the increasing number of gender minorities; a painting from decades ago potraying a gender neutral image; a TedTalk from an endocrinologist who helps trangender teens to achieve their goals.

 

 No matter the story or fact is from a firsthand account or a third person standpoint, the universal idea is that the gender minority community needs to be more respected and accepted by the society, in order to do so, raising awareness and educating the public is a crucial step. The second influential idea I learned from the topic is that one’s struggle might be so much bigger than what others can see. Take the example of the novel and the blog, people who first explore and identify themselves as gender minorities would experience not only inner challenge with identity crisis, but also have to carry the burden of criticism from society. These ideas impacted my take from the research since it deepens my understanding of the community. From my project, I hope people can also be touched by the stories and hardships behind the achievements, and even if they don’t agree with certain opinions, but still keep the ability to respect.

 

That was a lot about the project, now I’m gonna talk more about myself. Throughout my four years of high school, I have certainly experienced a lot. I moved around, I made friends, I broke off some friendships, I got into arguments, I made regrets, all kinds of things. But I think the importance of high school is that it allows me to get in touch with more people and train my patience and skills to communicate with others. I think the mural lesson that I learned about myself is that don’t be afraid to do whatever you want since who cares if you fail. I transferred to Naperville from China in eighth grade, I was not familiar with the environment, culture, and people yet I was scared to make mistakes, which greatly limited my friend group. But as I became more immersed in American culture, I realized that the power to speak for oneself is crucial and necessary. 

 

To future seniors – this year goes so much faster than you will expect. I know a lot of people have said it, but it’s still worth mentioning. You might feel pressured at first with all the due dates to meet for college applications, and the process of revising college essays then waiting for decisions is not so exciting. Most importantly, at one point, it might happen at any time of the year – maybe it’s when you submitted your college application, maybe it’s when you got your first college decision, or maybe it’s when you go to prom. All of sudden there’s something clicks, and you realize you are actually stepping into the real world, the world of adults. But hey, don’t panic. It’s a process that we all have to go through, it’s a sign that there’s so much more awaits in your future after high school, so don’t be afraid to embrace it, and most importantly, to enjoy it.