Graduation year: 2020
Majors/Minors: Gender Studies and Philosophy
This summer (2017), with the financial support from the Boehnen family and the moral and other support from the Department of Gender Studies, I was able to spend my summer interning with TREES, Inc. TREES (Transgender Resource, Education and Enrichment Services) is a nonprofit organization based in South Bend, IN that travels all over the country to do transgender education, programming, and resource sharing in specifically rural communities and small towns. (Check it out at www.webetrees.org!) In this role, I was able to travel all over the Midwest to network, attend Prides, and set up the organization's five year social media marketing plan. I was blessed to work with the incomparably wonderful founder and CEO, Meghan Buell, for the duration of the summer as well.
The experiences I had were absolutely invaluable as far as my gender studies education, work experience, and personal growth are concerned. I met so many wonderful people who helped me be proud of who I am as an out and proud lesbian woman. My time spend interning with TREES, Inc.--thanks to the Boehnen Family Grant and the amazing staff in the Gender Studies for informing me of this grant and the application process--will definitely go down as one of the best summers of my life. (And you can read more about this on my blog at www.cheekyfemme.wordpress.com!) I am so grateful that I was able to have this incredible opportunity to have a summer of rainbows.