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I was inspired. My 6th grade teacher reminded me how lucky I was to be in brown skin! She dismantled what society tried to force me to believe!

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I was part of the Portuguese language club in High School, where we were able to share experiences and our cultures. I felt represented.

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In my 5th grade reading class my teacher introduced to us the book The Skin Im In about a young black girl who was struggling with finding her place in life. As a kid this was my first time seeing my representation in a book. I felt included in the lessons and it made me really reflect on how important it is to be represented in a positive light.

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In middle school, I was first introduced to theatre in a Speech/Drama class. We got to express ourselves and create scenes, games with our peers. I was always a shy, introverted student but this class really gave me a chance to express myself without fear.

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I don't remember any curricula, lessons, or activity from my childhood from Kindergarten until 11th grade or so, but I do know  that my middle school band and choir classes (the ones we took with our grade level peers, not electives) were always a place I felt comfortable and empowered. Being in there made me feel represented, heard, and valued ... like it was forcing my classmates to try to understand who I was.

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In school, so much of my identity was wrapped up in how well I did in school. Our teachers liked compliance and people who did well in class. Although I was able to fit these "standards", I never had a teacher push me to dig deep and find myself outside of school. My 10th grade english teacher however, was the teacher who created a safe space, where he identified and applauded our strengths outside of the classroom. He saw us as more than just students and encouraged us to find that identity within ourselves and find what brought us joy in the world. He made me feel seen and heard in a way that was authentic to myself and my values.

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Growing up, I was always called the pretty little "black girl". Which I never understood why my race was always included.  I was put into a school play about African American history and they put me in tailored clothes. My teacher said "you are the same pretty little black girl but with a purpose. You are apart of history and do not ever forget that". I was apart of something huge and I carry that with me everyday.

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There were 2 5th grade teachers at my elementary school and I was family friends with one of the teachers. I didn't end up being put in her class for 5th grade, but when I experienced some bullying during the year she was the first person who was there to support me, even though she wasn't my direct teacher.

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When I was in Kindergarten, we had caterpillars. My teacher told us that throughout our education journey we would be able to fly like the butterflies that the caterpillars would become. This has always stuck with me throughout my education experience!

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When I was in fourth grade, my teacher gave us an assignment to write any story we wanted. For the first time, I was allowed to TYPE, which meant, because of my dysgraphia, I was able to take the abstract imaginary worlds that lived in my head and transfer them into the much more concrete form of written composition. I wrote a ridiculous story about how my two stuffed deer, Katie and Mocha, saved the world from evil lizards. Even though the story was absolutely absurd, it gave me the freedom to express myself through the written word, which because of my learning disability, had always seemed closed off to me. This exercise opened me up to the world of creative writing, and gave me hope that I could one day write the sort of books that meant so much to me as a little girl.

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In third grade we did an activity where each student was assigned a classmate and given a blank gingerbread person. We had to decorate the gingerbread person to look like the classmate and then on the outside wrote a few things about the classmate that we thought was cool or unique. I remember feeling really valued after we got ours back.

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In elementary school, we did a lot of projects that allowed us a lot of choice, and that unlocked our individuality and creativity. For example, we did a project where we picked a historical figure that inspired us and essentially wrote an autobiographical script to perform for parents and friends. I picked an unsung hero of females in athletics - Babe Didrickson!

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Throughout my whole K-12 experience, both schools I attended were predominantly Black. However, throughout my educational experience I only had two Black two teachers. These were the teachers that we able to relate and connect to me, encouraged me, taught me about Black history, and showed me that the sky was the limit. Representation in our education system is so so important.

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During my senior year of high school I took AP Lit and my teacher had the whole class read Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. It was a predominately white school, so I appreciated him having the entire class read about this. I was also close with my AP Lit teacher, who was also black and he was a creative writer and knew that I was interested in creative writing as well. He would recommend to me black, female authors to read and other books  that would help build my creative writing skills. To this day Invisible Man is my favorite book not only because of the actual writing/story, but because of that connection with my teacher. It was the few times I really felt seen in school beyond my academic interests.

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Not until college have I felt included, affirmed, or represented. Minority attending predominantly white schooling

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My 8th grade social studies teacher was my only black teacher at the time, and I was also the only black student in her class. She had an assignment where we had to create our own organization, and she wrote in the margins of my assignment that she would want her daughter to be a part of the organization I came up with, which was geared towards helping young women build bonds with each other while building self-esteem and self-confidence. It was very empowering to know that my ideas were being taken seriously.

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My guidance counselor and teachers in lower/middle school created a space for students in divorced households to create community through shared experiences which helped affirm for me my background outside of school

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When I was in the second grade, my class participated in a regular show & tell time. When it was my turn to share, I brought with me my journal and I read aloud to the class an entry I had written. I remember this being one of the first times I was able to creatively express myself in school, and I loved that I was able to openly share my story and my thoughts with the group.

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In elementary school, we had a star student week where each student wrote a nice letter to the star student. I still look back on these and read them!

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Freshman year I took an introductory politics and government class. One of the first things we were asked to do was design a poster advertising ourselves as a politician in the form of a poster. Even though the assignment was kind of silly, it was still empowering.

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I had an 8th grade writing teacher who incorporated lots of creative writing in her class; this was the first time I felt like all the random weirdo stories I would make up in my journals had a purpose. This is perfectly described in the book, The Poet X, one of my favorite books.