Resilient Hope

Abstract

Reflections from the author

Writing this poem was difficult for me. It’s difficult to discuss something that has impacted my life in such an intimate and personal way. I was able to write this piece because of Social Work 300, which taught me the importance of sharing as a way of learning. Finding the strength to share with my peers, as they shared with me, allowed me to understand aspects of the world that I was unfamiliar with. I live with a physical disability that isn’t immediately discernable by society’s prying eyes. This allows me to see how someone’s view can change in an instance based on things that can’t be controlled.

This poem starts with the historical pain that people with my identity have gone through. This class taught me the importance of being able to know how far we have come in order to recognize the obstacles we still face when making positive changes. I tied historical pain and comments that individuals have said to me over the years together in order to show there are still changes to be made.

The second half of this poem focuses on the importance of support systems. It explains that despite those who may stereotype, there are also those who will accept you for who you are. It’s important to remain hopeful that there are people in this world who will accept you for you, and that educating individuals to become more accepting is a great way to develop this. This class taught me the importance of being open minded and listening to individuals from all backgrounds. This inspired my poem; Afterall “an accepting world would be a great start.”