The first thing that came to mind when I started thinking of my educational story was the experiences I had out of the classroom rather than in school.  Although I've had some amazing teachers and classes, the trips I've taken overseas really have educated me more overall. What I didn’t realize before I started writing was how much my formal education influenced my “real world” education, the experiences I’ve had overseas.  As I was writing I discovered that being formally educated allowed me to better comprehend the value of the experience.  Although at times in school it seems as if we’re purely memorizing formulas or facts, things really do seem to come back and make connections later in life.  Realizing this connection was very eye opening for me.  

Hi, my name is Annelise and I am a senior at Haverford. I am majoring in Spanish and minoring in Gender and Sexuality Studies. I am just returning from a semester abroad in Seville, Spain and in the Spring I will be writing my thesis on gay Spanish cinema. My experiences with Gender and Sexuality Studies reflect my academic, personal and professional interests in the subject. I am struck by the use of the word "perspective" in a course entitled Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Gen/Sex. Will we be learning new perspectives? Should we challenge our own? Adopt others? Formulate new ones? I am looking forward to questioning the concept of perspective and its potential shortcomings and advantages.

I'm an English major, gen/sex minor, and creative writing concentrator. Gen/sex and queer issues have always been of interest to me though I've never really figured out why. I was involved in my high school's Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) and I'm involved in the Rainbow Alliance here at BMC. This interest in queer issues more or less a first in my immediate family. When I applied to intern at several AIDS organizations in Philly, I can quote my parents saying: "What is your connection to the gays? Are you aware of their wild and crazy parades?" to which I replied, "Yes, and I have practically been in some of them."

Writing my educational autobiography was fine...for the first few pages. To muster the third page, I had to dig deep and really remember the little things that did not right away occur to me. That made me think about myself and I'm grateful that I got to do this assignment.

Hi. I am a sophomore at Haverford. I'm majoring in Art History and am pretty sure that I will be a Gender and Sexuality Studies concentrator. This is my first class that is officially focused on gender and sexuality although it has always been something that interests me. I am really excited about this class and the potential discussions we will have in the future. 

Writing my educational autobiography was certainly more difficult than I had imagined. Plagued with the myriad of ways I could interpret education, I decided not to focus on the things I had learned in school because, as many of you will probably agree, education extends far beyond the walls of a classroom.

Much of my personal growth and education involved learning about myself and gaining a sense of independence and adulthood. By living in different cities throughout my life and eventually moving out of my parents house during my senior year, I began to understand the responsibilities associated with growing up, and I learned to appreciate the small community of which I grew up in contrast with the vibrant city I had integrated myself into.

So after writing my educational autobiography some questions had popped into my head about the position I took. I believe the classroom was not the key component in my education instead my community was. I made the claim that because of the way people in different economic background created their own world within their own class that it pushed me to become more aware of myself and taught me how to understand different people's stories. It also pushed me away from being open to the influences of the neigherborhood that I viewed as destructive. So this is where I am at now. I have been known to want to help people out and get them on a better path. But in my paper I had said that class has turned into being what defines a culture. So because I made the claim that people of lower class have their own culture, is it right for people to try to change them? Yes, the lower class are associated with high health risks, high poverty and crime but if that is their culture, who are we to say that the way they live is wrong? After reflecting on that another question arose. Maybe that is my culture? Maybe that it part of the American culture? To come in unannounced, and change what we see unfit. Looking at American history we can see several times when we stepped in and justified with a 'we're creating change' campaign. So maybe it is part of my culture to want to help people I think are on the 'wrong path?' But does that still make it right?