52 9.2 Positionality Statement

I am a caucasian woman, wife, mother, educator, and student. I am thirty-one with three wonderful children, ages three, five, and seven. I am also a person who struggles with mental health myself and in my family. As all my identities intersect, one of my primary identities comes as the default parent in my family. I am the one called on for appointments, kissing ouchies, and everything in between. With this, my main goal is to give my children a childhood I never had to break the cycle and provide a healthy environment for my children and the youth I cross paths with throughout my life.

As a child who grew up in a lower-income neighborhood surrounded by mental health and addiction, I did not have access to some necessities in life, such as access to technology and education tools that could have benefitted my education journey. As a result of my past, I am very passionate about the digital divide in our society and fighting for equal rights for students and their access to the internet. In today’s society, access to equal education and the technology needed should be a right for every student.