Ryan English
Telling Stories
For my internship, Caitlin and I worked with Janet, initially just on the development of community engaged learning for the Women’s and Gender Studies program. Over this past summer the two of us met with Janet to discuss how to fit this new liberal learning requirement into WGS. Since Politics of Sexuality had already been working on getting students out into the community, that was the best place to start. Somewhere amidst our discussions on what Janet could do with her section of Politics, she asked Caitlin and I to be her Teaching Assistants. We decided to extent the offer to the other professors who were teaching the other sections, and I soon became a TA for Jodi Brodsky as well. Basically we became a support system for the students, especially in regard to their community engaged learning projects. In Janet’s class we also lead small group discussions, facilitated articles, participated in in-class activities and told some stories. My role in Jodi’s class was slightly more passive. There I met with students during their 4th hour time, which became like office hours for me; they could drop in or schedule a time. On one occasion early in the semester Jodi couldn’t be there for class so I had a brainstorming session with them about their projects. Overall I helped them out with their projects, offered advice on papers and assignments, and sat in on class to share some insights.
There were many great experiences this semester in both classes, but there is one story I must share. A few weeks ago we were discussion domestic violence in Jodi’s class. The students were sharing comments and insights. Then Ray, one of the guys in class who is not always the first to raise his hand, did just that. He began to share his anger and frustration at men who beat the women in their lives. Through tears and intense emotion Ray told us about his cousin, and the abusive relationship she was in, and how a few years ago her husband beat her so bad she wound up in a coma. And then Ray told us she had died that morning. Ray recounted the details surrounding the last years of her life, details I can not recall enough to give justice to. A quick glance around the room revealed that Ray was not the only one in tears. Jodi finally broke the silence and thanked Ray for his story, and assured him that just by telling it he has made a difference because people will share his story and hopefully prevent this from happening to someone else.
The remarkable part of this story is the way in which the class came together to support Ray and honor his cousin. One group who raised money to donate to Womanspace, decided to donate that money in the name of Ray’s cousin. In the following class sessions there was an envelope in class so that anyone could add to the money already raised. And we did.
I would like to tell a second quick story that came about during a story telling session in Jodi’s class. A girl in the class did a project that revolved around the issue of rape and sexual assault. To start off her presentation she told a story about a girl who was at a party with her friends. While looking for her coat, with the help of a guy, this girl found herself alone with him in an upstairs bedroom. He raped her. Afterward this girl’s friends had left without her and one of the other guys in the house eventually drove her home. She never told anyone what happened that night…until that day in class. The student revealed that she was the girl from the story.
These two stories among others did something for the rest of the class that no book or article can ever do. They made these issues real and personal. Couple that with their community engaged learning projects and these students received the type of education that cannot usually be found in a classroom. To know that in some way helped these people gain this knowledge touches me. There is no greater gift than to help teach another how and where to gain true knowledge and then be able to watch as that knowledge washes over them and changes them for the better.
My advice to future classes is to do an internship that really interests you. Make it more than a requirement; make it meaningful to you and those you work with. In the process educate others on feminism and help those who may think and act like a feminist to realize that.