December 15, 2014 - 18:44
Of all of the pieces that went into our last hurrah, I am most proud of our zine. I think it really provided a way for each of us to express something that was important to us, a chance to just get our thoughts out into the open, with no expectation for response or conversation. I know a lot of the people outside of our 360 were definitely intrigued by the zine; trying to explain it to them, I found that it was easiest just to say that this is a small slice of our 360 put on paper for the campus to see. I know that getting it together was a little rocky, but even if it didn't turn out perfect, I'm still glad that we had the idea to do it, and that everyone really pulled together and contributed in a way that was meaningful to them.
On the contrary, although I enjoyed our event enough, I didn't find myself connecting to it the way I'd connected with other events we did. At least for my group, it didn't feel particularly different from any other conversation about intersectionality at Bryn Mawr; I know we tried to incorporate Monsoon and Benaifer's listening techniques, but it didn't feel genuine. I think I'd attribute this to the strength of our own conversations--they set quite a high bar--and to time contraints; two hours just wasn't enough to really be able to get to that space of comfort and connection. My group definitely had a great conversation, but it tended more towards the side of productivity (in the classic Bryn Mawr way), talking about what we saw on campus and rarely adding "I" statements and our own experiences and the like into the mix. One part that I do think was very successful was the push to invite administrators; we had one in our group (from the dean's office, I believe?) who contributed a very different perspective that also offered an honest look into how our challenges as students are and are not recognized by administration. On that end, our conversation was greatly beneficial as a form of communication with clarity between students and an administrator, with each getting a look into the other's perspective. I also liked the transitions between our sets of questions and the way we built up from identity to intersectionality to the roles and attitudes around intersectionality in our lives on campus--kudos to you, listening team! Overall, as we have been study portriature, I think it's appropriate to say that we gave a more-than-adequate portrait of our 360. There's no way that any event or publication or gallery could fully capture all that we've done this semester, all that we're leaving behind, and all that we're taking away, but I think we came pretty damn close.