The Interview essay was a study in balancing multiple perspectives. In order to do it well, I had to balance Ms. Injeian’s answers, my analysis, and my feelings while still maintaining a narrative. Luckily, we had done the interview with our classmates earlier in the semester. This helped me to see what I did well and what was not so good. In that essay, I lacked analysis that made all the answers and observations meaningful. It was more difficult in the first interview to build a narrative because I did not have an angle, to begin with, to frame my questions and essay. In that sense, my interview with Ms. Injeian was easier to frame and write. Below I have included an excerpt from my classmate interview essay and some comments on the first draft of my interview essay that helped me find the balance between perspectives and narrative as well as my final draft.

 

Finding Community and Togetherness Among Separation

At age 15, Lexaidris Vasquez went against her parents’ wishes and stopped attending the Pentecostal church they had been a part of for the past five years. Lexaidris had the realization that she did not agree with any of the values that the church stood for. Its oppressive nature, particularly towards women, was evident in the eyes of a 15-year old Lexaidris. This was not the way she wanted to practice her belief in God or live her life. These were formative years for Lexaidris, and they helped her form her values and ideals. They also changed her relationship with her parents, particularly her mother, causing separation between the two of them. Lexaidris realized what was important to her, and how she wanted to create positive change in the world.

When we first sat down, I could tell Lexaidris was nervous, and I was too. First, we did not know each at all, and now we had to write a profile on each other. She was dressed casually, with pops of color, like her well-manicured teal nails, and light purple glasses, which gave her a certain warmth. Even though she was unsure at first, I believe I put her at ease because as we went on she relaxed and opened up to me. At one point, she was surprised herself at how much she shared. I saw that she was guarded, and she herself admitted it. It seemed to me that perhaps this was a product of hurtful experiences with people around her, particularly within church communities. She mentioned times when congregants came to help her family but, in the end, would scam her family. When I asked her to describe herself as a child, before her time in the church, she used the word naive. I could tell that her experiences had made her quite pragmatic and realistic about life. This may have caused an inherent wariness of the people around her. Even with her guardedness she is a kind person and is conscious of how her actions affect others, saying that she makes a conscious effort to be kind.

 

 

 

Passion is Key

I sat down with Arianna Injeian after our shared Women’s Studies class. This seemed like an apt time to have our discussion. Ms. Injeian is the President of Feminism for All, out of the Macaulay school. We sat down at a table in Marshak, just outside of our classroom. She was dressed in workout gear, as she boxes three times a week. There were a few people around us doing their own work, but they were not at all paying attention to what was happening around them. She was quick to smile with a firm handshake and an assertive personality. As we settled in, I felt slightly flustered, trying to organize my thoughts and my questions for her. She patiently waited for me, kindly letting me organize myself. I could tell that she was kind, but she would not be taken advantage of. These are characteristics of a good leader. Once I was settled, I began to ask her about her club, her mission, and how she saw self-defense.

I first wanted to get to know the club, and how it started. Feminism for All is only in its first year, but Arianna has a clear view of what she wants the club to be. The major inspiration for the club is to help others throughout the school to make connections, and to give her peers opportunities to volunteer, and to obtain jobs. She also saw an opportunity for this to be based around her passion for feminism, as she saw there was a lack of gender-related clubs at the school. She is also inspired by her friends who started the queer alliance also at Macaulay. Lastly, her work at Planned Parenthood became a major inspiration for her. Since working there, her main focus in terms of issues she wants to educate about is reproductive rights.

I could tell that she is very passionate about her work at Planned Parenthood, so I wanted to ask her more about it. Injeian told me that she worked at two locations in the abortion clinic. She started out guided women from the waiting room to the offices but now is assisting with procedures. Through this work, she has seen how important these clinics are to women. She made a point to say that even though Planned Parenthood does more, the abortion clinic is really important and helps a lot of women. Because of this, she is proud to work at Planned Parenthood, and this is why she is so passionate about reproductive rights. Times, when she is struggling in gaining interest with Feminism for All, spending time at Planned Parenthood, reinvigorates her. It reminds her why she started the club in the first place. This feeling of helping others seems to be what drives Arianna a lot of the time.

Injeian had a few reasons why she thought that empowering women through her club was so important. She feels that there is a selfish aspect to her motives, saying that you can only empower yourself when those surrounding you are also empowered. She readily admitted this, giving a uniquely honest answer. Therefore, empowerment is a give and take situation. To help uplift herself, she looks to uplift those around her. Not only that, empowering others creates a support system for all those involved. Injeian cares about empowerment and sees it as a key goal of hers.

One form of this empowerment takes shape in self-defense. For Injeian, self-defense is a sort of confidence that women teach to each other. It provides physical protection that helps to ease emotional harm. It was at this point that Injeian told me that she is a sexual assault survivor and knowing that she could defend herself in situations provides her with confidence and even relief. It is a way for her to heal, and she hopes that providing the setting for others to learn self-defense does the same. Personal experiences make Injeian more motivated to provide aid to women throughout the schools. Injeian also noted that in our society, women never know when someone might attempt to harm them sexually or in another way, so it is critical to learn how to defend ourselves.

While going hand in hand with reproductive rights, self-defense was not always on Injeian’s list of programs to host, but because she has surrounded herself with strong and different voices, the club has a wider scope. Injeian’s Vice President plays a big role in the club, and Injeian clearly had great admiration for her, and appreciation for what she does within the club. This is because her VP works with her very well and is a great balance. Her VP has a passion for advocating for human rights, so with their different passions, they remind each other that there are many issues they can address. So, when her VP suggested self-defense, Injeian said she jumped at the idea, seeing how relevant and important it was. The two are a balance for each other, which I think makes for a good team.

Not only does Injeian work well with her board, but she is very collaborative with other groups and the community. She works closely with the queer alliance, who was part of her inspiration for starting the club. This was the only club Injeian told me by name, but at my second observation, the Celebration of Diversity event, there were several other groups collaborating as well. Outside of the school, the group has had meetings in both the Mayor’s and Governor’s offices, promoting gender equity, and students have had the opportunity to work in these offices because of connections made through the group. I was clear to me that collaboration was important to Injeian because it built an even greater community of support and education.

Starting her club at Macauley has been a good experience, with no pushback from anyone. She told me that they had received wonderful support from the school. The Dean of Macaulay had even reached out personally to give her support to the club. Saying that if they ever needed anything to feel free to ask her.  I was surprised by this, but it was nice to hear. In terms of funding, there was very little, but Injeian said that often they can find speakers who are willing to do their events for free or the host events that have little to no cost. She also said that both she and her VP have fellowship money for when they need it. Feminism for All receives individualized attention from school administration that at bigger school’s clubs do not. This could be a benefit in terms of making connections, but the club has not utilized that source yet.

Throughout my interview, Ms. Injeian was very forthcoming to all my questions. She was very positive and gave me straightforward answers. I was very articulate and gave thoughtful answers as well. I could tell that the club was important to her and that she was proud to have started it. She was also passionate about providing self-defense classes and any other empowering method that she could. This showed me she was willing to put in the work to make the events happen. While she clearly cares, Injeian wants to do a lot with her club, and it might cause self-defense to be neglected in the future in favor of another mission. Even so, I got the feeling that if she could just help one person feel a little bit more empowered she would be happy.