Education Commons^™

Start With The Self: Modelling Constructive Self-Statements And Growing With Others, Benedicto B. Llave

The Vermont Connection

I explore in this paper the importance of starting with the self

to model constructive self-statements and create both individual

and collective healing. My intended audience within this paper

is student affairs professionals of color who exist in predominantly

white institutions (PWIs) of higher education. I ground this paper

in my lived experiences as a queer and 1st generation student

affairs graduate student of color at a PWI. Within my writing, I

detail practices that help me manifest constructive self-statements,

to share with other student affairs professionals of color to practice

healing self-statements for themselves. Lastly, I conclude with

the …

Mic Check? Mic Check! Amplifying Our Voices, Kirsty Nicole Bocado

The Vermont Connection

Content Warning: discrimination, suicidal ideation, violence

When I write about mental illness, I use the terms: disability, identity, and relationship. However, no word captures what mental illness means to me. Mental illness is somehow both a part of me and a separate, intangible entity. Every day is an exhausting struggle to live with and understand it, and during my first year of graduate school, I experienced covert ableism. This harm caused a long and tedious recovery process on top of ongoing unlearning and healing. Through recovery, I adopted the practice of “embracing the whole” of emotions, feelings, symptoms, and triggers. …