I’ve been blessed. Through my position as a Leadership Consultant (LC), I’ve been afforded the opportunity to meet so many new people within the Mason community who have inspired me this year. By working with the LEAD team, my professional network and personal friend circle has vastly grown and that has had a positive impact in my time here at Mason.
How? Support.
By establishing relationships with people in different offices and sectors of the Mason community, I’ve been able to share space with different individuals who have supported me as a student leader here on campus. People working within the realms of social justice have given me a chance to voice subjects I’m not always able to talk about in public spaces such what it means to be a queen person of color who is also a DREAMer. For 18 years of my life, prior to coming to Mason, I never even uttered identifying within those words. Yet this past year, I’ve opened up to people about these aspects of myself and have felt the love and support of so many individuals. These established relationships have helped me find my inner strength and have allowed me to continue on knowing I have a support system that cares for me.
Outside of my own development, these established relationships have allowed me to be a better resource to students. I’ve been able to connect different students with different friends I have around campus, not always to seek resources, but also to have what I was afforded: someone to simply connect with and talk to. I’ve come to appreciate the power of support systems and healthy relationships with friends, and I understand the amazing feeling it is to have someone to talk to. From a student leader perspective, not all students have been given the chance to be open about their personal stories and identities. Many don’t feel like they have safe spaces at home, and may even feel like different parts of Mason aren’t a safe space for them. From what I have seen, it has been the role of George Mason University as well as the role I aspire to take, or working to be there for those that would like a space to be themselves, ask questions they may be too afraid of asking, and developing their identities as individuals within the system as well as developing their leadership identities. The LC position has enabled me to be there for others, through good and bad times, just like how others were there for me when I needed it in the past and how people are still here for me now.