I have been getting a lot of questions about why I am so involved lately, so I decided to share my story with all of you blog readers.

All of my involvement started when I was in eighth grade. I was very involved with a few organizations at my middle school, and one of the advisors selected me to go to a conference put on by the Anti-Defamation League. She also selected which workshops we were going to attend. One of the workshops I attended had to do with LGBTA issues. This was the first time I heard the word gay or anything of the sort.

The only activity that I remember that day was an activity called Count Your Losses. What we had to do was take index cards and then they told us what to write down on each. They were things like your best friend, your favorite place to hang out, down to you hopes and dreams for the future. The facilitator then went through a had coming out experience. Your friends do not support you, so you tear up that card and watch the pieces fall to the floor. One by one all of the cards were torn up. The story ended with the person you “were” being attacked and killed in a parking lot. So you then take the cards with your hopes and dreams for the future fall to the floor. I remember them talking about Matthew Shepard at one point.

I was really confused and bothered by this activity. I could not believe that people would have to go through this just because they liked someone who was outside of the norm. After sitting with this information for awhile, I finally figured out what I could do to get involved. By this point I was at the high school, so I joined the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). I started getting very involved. Come senior year, I was the co-president of the club.

Once I came to Cal Poly, I knew that I had to continue with my involvements. I volunteered with the Pride Center and also very active in the GSA here. When they had an opening at the Center my second year, I applied and got it. That just got me to be even more involved. I started working with some of the community groups and just doing a lot more on campus. One of the things I do on campus is run the Ally Training program, where I made sure to include the Count Your Losses activity, since it was so instrumental in my involvement.

I thought I had reached a point where I was involved in the LGBTA community as much as I possibly could. However, that was not the case. As I have previously mentioned, I attended Campus Pride’s Summer Leadership Camp. It was such an amazing experience. Because I enjoyed it so much, I wanted to get more involved with Campus Pride and joined the Q Team.

I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about me! If you want to know more, feel free to ask!

P.S.- One year ago today The California Supreme Court overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage. Unfortunately, due to Prop 8, things are up in the air. The decision about Prop 8 will be coming out soon, so keep your fingers crossed!