To put it lightly, the past year has been a challenge. The school year brought the majority of the challenges, with adjusting to virtual class, having a strong case of COVID-19, losing my grandma, and struggling to maintain friendships from afar. When I reflect on the past year, I think one of the biggest challenges for me was frustration with fellow members of this society. I found myself getting angry at people I didn't know for not wearing a mask in public. 

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I worked a customer service position part time at the zoo in the fall, and there were times I would leave my shift extremely disheartened and pessimistic because of the way I was treated for enforcing masks. Customer service is never easy, and it always has included angry or stubborn customers, but this was different. It was extremely draining to be constantly disrespected and insulted. I consider myself to be an accepting person who generally sees the best in people, and it was hard to see that part of myself being challenged.

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I stopped working at the zoo right around when my grandma passed away. Mourning from afar and not being able to see my family members was difficult. I focused my energy on my new co-op position, and overall had a good experience there. I worked with some people who had very different opinions about politics and the pandemic. However, it was refreshing to get to know them without feeling attacked the way I did at the zoo. I generally bit my tongue about the things I didn't agree with, but I didn't feel like I had to not wear a mask or agree with their political statements in order to be accepted or respected by them. It was a good reminder that kindness between people with opposing beliefs is possible even when acceptance of those beliefs perhaps is not.

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Last year, I reflected on the protests happening for Black Lives Matter at the time. I attended numerous demonstrations last summer with my hometown's Sunrise Movement hub. I gained a lot of respect for the young organizers in my town and in the movement as a whole. Later on, during the spring, I met an organizer for the Sunrise Cincy hub, and have since been getting involved in the movement. I have begun to take on leadership roles, and my main goal is to help build the local hub's membership and notability. I am excited to see how the movement grows and what we can accomplish for intersectional environmental justice.