Transgender students, their access to college, and why the TransgenderFirst Scholarship can assist

Hi all! Welcome to my blog! I am posting this first post at the very start of my grad program! I have a few credits from another school already, but I was too overwhelmed financially and academically at the time, so I took a break. Now, I am eager and excited to be starting a new grad program that I am committed to finishing! My goal is to become a college professor with a specialization in filmmaking. I hope to combine my knowledge gained from my professional filmmaking experience, B.A. in Film, and upcoming M.Ed. in Higher Education to achieve this goal. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be applying for the TrangenderFirst Scholarship to help me pursue my M.Ed. degree! I am genuinely so happy a platform like this exists for transgender students. It can be so difficult to assimilate to college culture as a trans student, making it much harder to accomplish coursework or overall academic goals due to the mental load of trying to fit in among peers. Scholarships like TransgenderFirst allow us and transgender students some peace of mind when it comes to academics by assisting financially. This provides trans students more cognitive ability to take on everyday battles in college settings such as deciding which bathroom to use in public, or choosing which pronouns or name to share in class discussions for safety reasons, or picking which clothes to wear based on comfort versus assimilation, and the list goes on. 

As we see an unfortunate yet steady rate of hate crimes among transgender individuals especially in the U.S., our life expectancy as trans people as a whole is declining. It is important now more than ever to advocate for transgender individuals. Transgender students in particular are a precious population of people as they are actively attempting to better both themselves (by continuing their education) and also others (by obtaining a degree to become the best professional they can be, in turn assisting others in their field to succeed). 

Not only can it be difficult for transgender students to approach college, it can also be difficult for them financially. Many transgender people go through physical gender transitions which require surgeries, hormone replacement therapy, and other processes that are by no means cheap. Even changing your name and gender marker is often costly. Too often I see transgender and non-binary individuals crowdfunding on social media just to pay their bills. It is no coincidence that trans people are often falling victim to enormous debt just to fund their gender transition–gender affirming care saves lives, and it needs to be made more affordable and accessible to all. This is why I appreciate scholarships like TransgenderFirst. Organizations like these are making education more accessible to trans students and are helping trans people at large achieve their goals. 

There are trans people in every field and every profession. There are trans people in every state, in every country… There have always been trans people and there will never be a world without them. We must continue to uplift trans voices and people everywhere until we are accepted at large. We cannot be afraid to speak up and advocate for ourselves and do what is necessary to not only survive, but also thrive in the gender we feel most at home. Part of why I want to be a professor is to show students who may be questioning their own gender that they can be themselves. I leave you with some questions to ponder: When was the last time you had a transgender teacher? Have you ever had a teacher who was openly trans? It was in my undergrad years in which I realized I was trans myself and I absolutely could have used a role model such as a professor who had a similar experience as me. I hope to be that person for my own students in the future.

I am eager to become a professor who impacts the lives of others. There is much to learn from transgender individuals, not only in their particular field of study, but also in regards to openness, acceptance, and understanding. There is love and light to be shared throughout the trans community through the art of education and I hope to do exactly that as a professor one day. 

Wish me luck as I pursue my M.Ed. degree!