Writing

Writing this paper on how the Vietnam War affected diversity in the US is significant, as the United States population is very diverse and rapidly increasing. Vietnamese communities have intermingled with preexisting cities and made their own areas coincide. Recognizing these conclusions inspired me to think about how other US foreign affairs caused immigration and diversity, leading me to the American Studies M.A. route.

Being my first ethnography, I learned a little about what anthropologists do for a living. I utilized Stockton's campus to help me with my research and got to know some transgender and nonbinary students on campus. By learning about their experiences, I was able to conclude the struggles that these groups face are unique to them because of their chosen identities. Putting creative writing and ethnographic analyses together was a challenge, but it helped me realize that being a traveling anthropologist was a difficult job. 

Even though this course was online, I was still able to interview an amazing, nonbinary person who was an NYC councilman candidate and political activist by day, and a drag queen by night. Because they were running for office at the time, it was an honor to spend some time getting to know them. Conducting this interview allowed me to explore what inequalities Cummings had to deal with specifically because they were a drag queen. Unfortunately, they did not win the council position, but they still are active in the community to fight social injustice and negative stereotypes that the LGBTQ+ community has to put up with.