Impact Maker Interview 5 – Sophie W.

We have a lot to learn from others that are trying to build their communities and their woodpiles. Today’s interview picks another person we’ve identified as giving back to their community in some way and tries to learn from them.

If you know someone you would like to nominate for an interview, please drop me a note with a brief story about why that person should be featured.

My questions are in bold italics, with responses in plain text.

Today’s Interview: Sophie W.

Tell us about yourself, where you live, and your family.

I grew up in Bemidji, MN with my wonderful mom and dad. I am currently pursuing a double major in Music and Social Justice, and a double minor in Digital Media Arts and Nonprofit Management at my University. I am an artist, a musician, a photographer, an orientation leader, a theatre kid, a sound technician, an activist, a bad joke advocate, and a huge extrovert.

What makes your community special?

The thing that makes my community special is that my community is not drawn from one specific group of people. My community is made up of musicians, Germans, community planners, Lutherans, socially engaged artists, college students, educators, rural folk, politicians, theatre people, orientation leaders, artists, activists, happy people, city folk, sad people, coffee drinkers, gluten free folk, and people who have no idea what they’re doing with their lives. It’s a huge conglomerate of people who have nothing and everything in common at the exact same time.

What do you do to make your community better (volunteer, donate, etc.)?

I make my community better by doing three things:

1. Being comfortable. By being comfortable in my community, I am able to give feedback, opinions, ideas, etc. confidently and assuredly. By being comfortable, I am also able to be vulnerable to others.
2. Being comforting. By being comforting, people are able to be vulnerable alongside and with me. We build trust by being vulnerable with each other.
3. Being uncomfortable. When I say I make my community better by being uncomfortable, I am talking about how I am forced to go out of my comfort zone. Because I am comfortable with others and comforting towards others, I challenge myself to be uncomfortable by asking questions I frequently wouldn’t, by going out on a limb, and being even more vulnerable than I was before. Difficult, uncomfortable, and stressful conversations need to happen in order to promote positive social change within my community.

How do you impact others with your work/vocation?

I consider myself an artistic activist who values innovation and collaboration with other artists of varying mediums. My main focus is socially engaged art. Within my art, I place a lot of focus on the power of language and the identities we hold, as well as the art of intentional conversation. The interesting thing about my work is that I rely very heavily on my community of people I know, as well as the people I haven’t met yet. My work impacts others by promoting safe spaces to process, share ideas, and converse about topics we care about.

I’m also still trying to figure out what my work/vocation exactly is. I’ll figure it out eventually. Maybe I won’t. But I’m enjoying myself thus far.

Tell us about how you build your family up for success?

My family never stops asking questions and never stops validating one another. We challenge each other to always go the extra mile. Our support system for one another is strong, and cannot be broken.

Which area – your community, vocation or family – do you feel you are the best at, and why?

This question is admittedly difficult for me to answer, as I do not think that it applies to me. While I can make distinctions among each group to differentiate them, I feel that my community, vocation and family are more the same than they are different.

These three areas of my life intersect in many different ways, so I don’t think that I can properly answer this question. I will say that I think that when I combine all three of these areas together, the thing I am best at is creating a meaning-making experience out of each experience and opportunity that I have in my life, whether that be in my community, vocation, or my family.

What have the results of your efforts been? Feel free to share a story about a time you knew you made an impact.

The one place that really has built my community, vocation, and family the most is my work with New Student Programs. I was introduced to the department when I first arrived on campus for my summer orientation and registration week. I also worked with the program as a student in the fall of my freshman year with various New Student Mentors (Orientation leaders), and in the fall of my sophomore year, I had the opportunity to be a New Student Mentor.

During our training prior to the fall, we learned about the various ways in which to authentically help and support students while assisting them with their transition to University. Then, the spring of my sophomore year, I applied to be one of three Student Coordinators, in which we focus on supporting the NSMs and everything they might need for assisting the NSMs welcome new students. Through this program, I have been able to dive deeper in the multiple ways in which I can be a leader, while also learning about the ways that my actions impact the community and people that surround me.

Talk about the event, organization or activity you’ve been involved in that made the biggest impact. Why was it impactful, and how did you help?

Last month, I presented at NODA in Des Moines, Iowa. NODA is a student affairs conference focused on orientation, transition, and retention of college students. I had the opportunity to research, present, and lead a session concerning microaggressions, privilege, and identity.

In this session, we talked about our own individual Target and Agent Identities of Oppression. We discussed how with our various identities/privileges that we all hold, our words oftentimes have a deeper impact than what we had originally intended, and we sometimes say things that we don’t mean. We discussed the ways in which we can promote healthy language and positive self esteem on college campuses, as well as how to intervene and educate peers, staff, and other folks alike through student affairs and orientation programming.

This was a session that meant a lot to me, as the importance of intent vs impact is a topic that I care deeply about. Being able to share my research with folks from all over the Midwest was incredibly moving to me. To know that various institutions would be taking back themes, exercises, and conversations from my session to their respective institutions had a great impact on myself, my work, and the art that I do. Being able to share stories and experiences with other folks from a wide variety of backgrounds made the conversation diverse and unlike any other discussion I have ever had before.

Who or what inspired you to give back of yourself?

The stories from the people around me. My family, my coworkers, my friends, and the people I have yet to meet. Through my art, I have learned that everyone has a story to share and a dream they want to accomplish — but it all starts with yourself first.

Also, my Mom and Dad. And, adrienne marie brown. And Obama. Also Tristan Richards and Becky Kaarbo. There’s so many.

What has been the biggest obstacle for you personally in trying to be a community builder, and how did you or do you hope to overcome it?

The biggest obstacle that I have encountered is the fact that not everyone is going to be as passionate about the same things that I am. Trying to get as many people involved as possible sometimes isn’t possible, and not everyone always wants to give input or feedback. And that’s ok.

What legacy do you hope to leave?

I want my legacy to be one that encourages curiosity.  I hope that people are always curious and want to learn more from their neighbor, whatever that may look like.

What advice to you want to give someone trying to build their woodpile?

Never stop asking questions. Be critical.

Any questions you would like to ask our Woodpile community?

As Impact Makers, when a specific issue arises within a field, are we supposed to take a step in the field to “fix” it, or do we “fix” it from the outside? An example would be the education system in the U.S.. Do we become a part of and work for the U.S. school system to break down the exploitation, white supremacy, and systematic oppression? Or, do we fix these issues by working outside of the school system?

Please respond to Sophie’s questions in the comments below. Catch future posts by following our social media links in the upper right or leaving your email in the box to the right. Thank you!