The boxes tell a story…
At the beginning of each school year, preparation week is loaded with meetings meant to get everyone on the same page as a community, up to speed with any changes or updates, and ready to greet our students on the first day or any sneak previews that happen prior to day one. This year was no different, of course. One meeting, however, was very different. We have made a concerted effort as a community to tackle diversity and inclusivity head-on, and one of our meetings during preparation week was based on that goal and on-going efforts.
The opening activity consisted of each person obtaining a small piece of paper with boxes. Each box has a general identifier to which we penciled in our responses. Identifiers included: mobility, age, race, religion/religious affiliation, political affiliation, gender, and sexuality.
As we were all finished filling them in, we were instructed to mark out three that we felt were least important to us and how we identify ourselves. To my surprise, we were asked to continue marking them off one by one until we ended up with a sole identifier. The one that mattered most. Honestly, this ended up differently than I imagined. I did not find it difficult to cut out boxes as I went, although admittedly, the one I ended up with as most important was a big surprise to me.
When thinking about the way I identify myself or my sense of identity, I tend to get scattered. I do not feel like I have a strong, focused identity, rather feel like a conglomerate rock, made up of a beautiful concoction of a million different things. My entire life, I have struggled with people putting me in a box and I have fought really have to break down those cardboard barriers. I’ve never wanted to be in a single box, thought of as just one thing or another. My interests, talents, involvements, passions always bring an element of surprise, it is not uncommon for people who know me well to say “ I didn’t know that….about you” — nobody puts Schnekser in a box…
The interesting thing about that was learning what, in this case, was my most important identifier, my most important “box” on the sheet for this activity.
Being female was what ended up being most important.
Yeah, surprised me too…as I was crossing off “less important” identifiers, I kept revisiting this identifier, being female. I kept feeling unable to cross it off and I think that means something. It’s what brought me to the end of the activity. I had no idea how important it is to me as a human, to be female and do all of the things that I do. Honestly, it has made me view myself in a new light. This has made me investigate who I am a little deeper, I have reflected on the things that I do and have done in my life and one thing began to stick out like a sore thumb.
Oftentimes, I am the only female on a team, group of friends, project, or new initiative. I look at pictures and it becomes even more obvious — I am the sole female. I never really thought about it or noticed much. I think being female, and being accepted has been a big part of my life, my journey, and my stories. A few weeks ago, I had a student tell me her mother mentioned me the other day, how much she admired that I was the only female on my field expedition team in the Amazon this summer. It was then that I began to notice that not only does identifying as a female mean a lot to me, but it does to others as well.
I had not realized it before, but I have been an activist, a feminist for my entire life. Breaking down barriers, pushing boundaries, and making myself visible and included in places where females generally are not; sports teams, clubs, friend groups, science, math, outdoor activities…
I have always made a big deal about not being put in a box, showing people I CAN do things that they doubted, but I did not see that a lot of the boxes I was breaking down were gender-related. Fascinating.
I wonder what YOUR boxes might tell you?
Try it for yourself — fill in the boxes and begin crossing them out in order of non-importance (least important to important).
What is YOUR final box?
Were you surprised?
What did you learn?
The boxes tell a story — it might just surprise you.
