speech! speech! speech!

"Tell em you want to use your education to better the community, to grow Arizonans youth and future by exploring the differences in humankind and in so doing reveal the commonalities. The bonds that make us all a family." -Archer's advice to me, when I lamented not knowing what to say to the people who are giving me a scholarship tomorrow. He's brilliant.

I have to prepare a speech. Maybe if I call it something else (not a speech) then it won't be so hard to write.

Ok, so I have to say a few words about myself, so the scholarship-donors can get to know me a little, to see where their money's going.

Here goes nuthin...

~

Hi, my name is {Bones}, and as I mentioned on my application, I'm going to change the world. 

Briefly: I plan to use education to combat the social injustice which feeds on ignorance. In particular, I will use my own education to further our understanding, as a society, of ourselves. I'm currently pursuing a Bachelor of Art degree at the University of Arizona - South, with a dual major in Psychology and Anthropology. I'm also minoring in History, because I believe you can't study people without knowing what they've done. My next step will be to begin graduate studies; at that point, I will begin to focus more specifically on human psychological development, especially as it pertains to gender diversity in American culture.

Why gender diversity? - Because I believe that our most fundamental human right is simply to be human - to be who we are, without pretense or fear or retaliation. Many Americans are not able to exercise that right; among all the trampled-upon groups in American society, the transgender population is perhaps the most invisible, and the most publicly reviled. It is still legal, in many states, to deny even medical care to a transgender person. 

I'd like to help change that. And, I believe whole-heartedly that if change is to come, it will be on the back of education. I've begun working toward that already, as a guest speaker for gender diversity at Cochise College, in Sierra Vista, and as a volunteer for the Green T Homestead, right here in Bisbee.

For those who haven't yet heard of it, the Green T Homestead is a non-profit organization that provides resources for transgender individuals and their families, friends, and allies, and they're working toward building an intentional green community in or near Bisbee. 

I'm about to enter my last year as an undergraduate at the U of A. It has not been an easy endeavor, and my financial ability to continue has faced steep challenges. This scholarship, in fact, is the lynch pin that will secure my remaining steps. Truly, you have made this possible for me, and I want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I believe that, with your help, I will change our world.