I wanted to be a Social Justice Major when I first toured Hamline as a senior in high school. I was excited that students even had the option to major in Social Justice, since not many schools offer this opportunity. I had done a lot of social justice work at my high school and was already very passionate about making folks more informed of issues such as anti-bullying, LGBTQIA issues, and environmental issues. I had a passion for serving communities so Hamline’s focus on community service was really appealing to me.
Through my Social Justice Major classes I’ve worked to understand and learn more about communities who are different from me. With the help of the Wesley Center and my double major in religion I’ve taken time to understand different faith traditions. Additionally, I have taken classes to better understand the history and experience of people of color in this country. My sophomore year I applied to be a student representative at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) which was in D.C. that year. Since then, I’ve been constantly working to understand historical trauma and the experience today that People of Color (POC) face because what they have to experience on a daily basis structurally and socially from society at large is really harsh. This is important for any Social Justice Major to take the time to understand.
Additionally, I’ve been a part of alternative break trips all four years of college. An alternative break trip is where students volunteer either in one city or in several cities across the US during time they have off school. I’ve had the privilege to serve and lead for Students Today, Leaders Forever (STLF) a nonprofit based out of Minneapolis who has a chapter at Hamline. STLF’s mission is to reveal leadership through service, relationships, and action. I’ve had the opportunity to see a lot of the country, make connections with Hamline students, and students at other schools in the Midwest. Last year, I had the opportunity to go to an Alternative Break Citizenship school (ABCs) through a nonprofit called Break Away out of Atlanta, GA where I got to meet several other undergraduates also planning alternative breaks. I learned so much about other alternative break trip programs. It was really exciting to be with so many people who are passionate about the same things I am. Plus, we got to stay in the Grand Canyon!
My concentration in Social Justice examines how people interact with their social and physical environments. I've explored this through an interdisciplinary and experiential lens. I’ve taken “Christian Ethics: Food, Farming, and Faith". Through a nonprofit class I created my own food justice nonprofit and learned what goes into opening a nonprofit. This semester, I’ve been taking two environment focused classes. One called, "Feeding a Crowd" it's a project based class about food justice issues in St. Paul, and the other called, "Media and Global Environmental Conflicts" it focuses on debunking many of the myths we are taught about environmental activism and how to start to truly understand what’s causing environmental issues things like war, land grabbing, and industrial farming. Connected to my concentration I’ve been a SPROUT intern for Midway Green Spirit Community Garden and continued working with the garden through last summer. Through my concentration I’ve read important books about food and environmental justice: “The Good Food Revolution” by Will Allen who runs Growing Power in Milwaukee, WI, “Take this Bread” by Sara Miles a priestess out of San Francisco doing food justice work out of her church. Lastly, my concentration has inspired my Critical Inquiry Essay in which I use Iris Young's "Five Faces of Oppression" to analyze how environmental racism plays a role in the Flint, Michigan water crisis.
In total, my Social Justice training at Hamline has given me a better understanding of myself, my limits in doing social justice work, methods for self-care, and a passion for learning. After college I will stick by what I’ve always said, “I want to make the world a better place.” It’s why I’ve done all the work I’ve done in college, majored in Social Justice, and continue to learn about new social justice issues every day. I plan on continuing to engage in social justice learning and activism. As of right now, I plan on taking a year off school and starting graduate school in Fall of 2018. I want to study Student Affairs Administration because I have a passion for working with young people who want to go to college and do good work for their communities. Being a social justice major has prepared me to be a critical thinker and passionately engaged in any work I end up doing. Student loans are legitimate, so I have to factor those in when I think about future career options. But I don’t ever want to stop doing the work to make the world better no matter what I do for a day job.