My Revelation

Tonight was by far the most intense class I have sat through in my 6 years of college but I am oh so thankful for it.

Many of us were dreading having to spend 4 hours in class on a Friday night. Yet, when 9pm rolled around, we saw ourselves still so engaged in the topic that no one left.

I guess I should explain this class a little more. It is a class on social justice and advocating for those who have been oppressed for whatever reason. It is an online class but we meet once a month to have a better discussion.

Tonight was our first meeting for this class. We began class with each of us saying what we bought about the class so far, oppression we may have suffered or seen, and what we expected out of the class. As many of the African American students shared their stories, I felt that was my time to jump in. On the outside, I may seem like I have never experienced any type of oppression. As my dad always would tell me, I lived in a pink Barbie sparkly world and don't like to venture far from it. However, the interracial marriage that my dad is in that brought me my amazing step-brothers and made me an aunt, also brought me a whole new eye to oppression. So many stories ran through my head that I knew I could share with my fellow classmates but as I shared how Marcus was treated as a "monster" during his custody battle for Kayson all because of the color or his skin as he stood in court in Utah, I found the tears start to fall. Crying moment #1 of the night!

After we all shared, we took a quick break and then came back to a classroom with chairs in a circle. We all stood and as our professor or other students called out -isms, we stepped into the circle if we had ever been affected by it or would act as an advocate for those who have been affected by it. Let's just say coming to terms with a lot and seeing who had my back on certain things, created crying moment #2 of the night!

Lastly, our professor asked us to take time to address anyone in the room personally that we may have been affected by and recognize them for that. As everyone made their appreciations known, I wondered what someone might say about me, if anything at all. Lexy and I have been acquaintances since last semester and when she spoke about me, I felt my eyes well up. Crying moment #3!!!

I was trying to explain to Sammy on the car ride home how much tonight's class affected me. I was reassured why I love this profession and why I know I am never going to burn out. A group of 40 adults sat in a room (strangers, peers, classmates, whatever you want to call us) and were able to share emotion and cry in front of one another. We all moved each other to the point of crying! I love the fact that it was okay to do that!! I will never be able to put into words how I truly felt leaving class tonight, other than the fact that I am truly blessed to be in the counseling profession and I cannot wait to be in a position to change the lives of others and help them along with their revelations like I had as I cried with my classmates!