A moment of my life revolving around Pride is when I was a teenager and I volunteered with Iowa Pride Network to hold coalition meetings to teach other LGBTQIA+ teens about queer topics. We met very month, and a few others and I taught other teens about topics like LGBTQIA+ safe sex, queer history, mental health, queer representation in media, healthy relationships, etc. I got involved after going to meetings the year prior, and meeting other teens like me helped me get through a very dark point in my life where I was depressed and felt alone. The groups were intended to teach us how to bring that information back to our own high schools to make the environment feel safer for other LGBTQIA+ teens.

The next year, I decided I wanted to be more involved, and the Iowa Pride Network trained me to help run the meetings. That was my first experience with being out and proud and with helping others. It gave me my first look at queer culture and ended up landing me a huge scholarship for being involved and advocating. That scholarship is why I came to Iowa State. Being a part of the queer community was the first time I felt safe to be myself and to be completely out to everyone that I am a lesbian.