By: Zoe Zelleke, Forest Foundation Intern
Growing up in Cambridge, I was exposed to many “progressive” concepts such as reproductive justice and freedom, feminism (though often through a white feminist perspective), access to rallies and marches, and seeing same-sex couples, something that would later mean a lot more to me. In my early years of school, I was very unaware of the world I lived in, as most of us at eight or nine tend to be. I got up, went to school, went to dance practice, and came home. It was a normal routine that I never questioned. For all I knew, my family was safe and healthy, we were doing just fine. As I got older, the world went from one-dimensional to three remarkably quickly. I became aware of the fact I lived in the place I did. I read news stories about mass shootings, police brutality, and gender-based violence, and I am embarrassed to say that I had never come to an understanding of those until that point.
In 2017, my mom saw an ad on FaceBook for YWCA Cambridge’s leadership program called GOLD, which at the time stood for Girls Only Leadership Development, and she signed me up. A few of my friends from school had signed up as well, so I figured it would be worth a shot to try. It was free and something my mom knew I would appreciate– and she was right on this one. Those Tuesday nights were some of the greatest learning experiences and memories I have from middle school, a time that most of us would like to erase from our memories. I had never talked about feminism in the way we did up on the second-floor library of the Y. I enjoyed the program so much that in 2018, a group of girls and I from the previous year came together to create the Peer Mentorship program, for high schoolers who had participated in the program the year prior. While we loved and respected our adult mentors, we believed it may be nice to bridge the gap between participant and adult mentor with one of us. I really disliked high school, but when someone asks me what I did like about that time, I always say my time at YWCA Cambridge, which I often explain as “The YMCA… but for women.” That seems to get my point across successfully and efficiently each time.
When the pandemic came in full swing and we were forced to be online, our numbers dropped quickly. I can say that after a long day of Zoom school in a world of uncertainty, discussing pressing issues like women’s rights was not something I was mentally up for. However, as I entered college and moved across the country, I quickly realized the importance that GOLD has had on me. In my first semester, I took a Women and Gender Studies class, and while many terms were still new, many were very familiar thanks to the education I gained from GOLD. To the majority of my peers, these were concepts that they had never been exposed to, as many came from more conservative places that censored much of what we covered in that class.
As most of us do in college, I have done some major self-discovery which has led to extreme growth. So much of one’s growth comes from reflecting on everything they had grown up knowing, whether or not it be for the better or worse. I find that beautiful. Many of the ideas I held from my time at GOLD have evolved just as I have, and I have brought myself to acknowledge the beliefs that I am no longer aligned with. One of those being, a slight sense of homophobia. Now, I do not want you to click off, there is a good lesson here. As I began to fully come into myself post living with my parents, I realized that all of that was internalized. A lot of the time we project ‘isms’ and phobias out of fear, or even fear of who we are. That is why I believe that education is so vital in creating a more peaceful, loving world. As someone who feared so deeply, even in a progressive place like Cambridge, I can only imagine what it would have been like to have a program like Gender Expansive Youth (GEY). For those who are unfamiliar with the GEY Program, it is a safe space for LGBTQ+ youth, centering on trans and nonbinary folks. I have gratitude for the first-hand experience being in YWCA’s youth programs, and gratitude I have for the community I have built here. Coming back as an intern has only made me want to uplift these programs more. I want to thank all who have donated and helped fund these programs, as they have done more for me than I think they probably even set out to do.
YWCA Cambridge is On A Mission 