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If I Ran the Zoo

School has been good socially different for me in many unprecedented ways. My stigmatized identity (queer/transgender) seems to be concealable now, which is strange for me. Prior to going back to school, I have had all of the same friends since starting hormone therapy. So everyone knows that I'm queer. I haven't had a lot of social exposure outside of my friends and family. And now on campus I'm having a lot of consistent exposure to new people. Meaning, I'm very new to this "coming out" scenario. I've decided that I'm going to stick to the policy I've had my entire life - just, being my genuine, open self as though I'm living in a world free of prejudice toward sexual minorities.

Campus LGBQT Group

Last week I found out about an LGBQT student group on campus during the campus club fair. I attended the campus club fair with a group of fellow students, none of whom know that I'm transgender. When I walked up to the LGBQT table to sign up for notifications, I actually felt a twinge of anxiety. That someone might ask me why I signed up for this club and that I would then honestly respond that I'm transgender. No one asked, but later one of the students revealed to me that she was raised LDS (Latter Day Saints) and that she dislikes how "discriminatory the church is."

I was surprised that I felt hesitation, but I'm still adjusting to this whole concealable stigmatized identity scenario. It's very new to me, but I'm getting there.

Animal Research

Fortunately, my neuropsychology professor relayed to me that she does not research on animals. And that's it's possible to get through the neuropsychology undergraduate program without animal experimentation. Which is very, very relieving to me.

The prospect of being in a situation where I'd be expected to experiment on animals almost caused me to self-select out of neuropsychology altogether. When she revealed that she does not partake in animal research, I literally felt my chest release and little stomach butterflies erupt.

Student Government

I'm going to be an employee in student government! I couldn't resist.



The word nerd, by the way, first appeared in a 1950 Dr. Seuss book, "If I Ran the Zoo." The Nerd is drawn as an angry humanoid, with the following caption: "And then, just to show them, I’ll sail to Ka-Troo And Bring Back an It-Kutch a Preep and a Proo A Nerkle a Nerd and a Seersucker, too!"

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