Voyager Scholarship<\/a>, which is administered by the Obama Foundation, to nurture young leaders to confront the world\u2019s greatest challenges. The scholarship is open to students entering their junior year of college and who are interested in a career in public service. And it provides recipients a life-changing awards package: including up to $50,000 in financial aid for their junior and senior years to help alleviate the burden of college debt; $10,000 to create their own travel\/work experience the summer before their senior year; and a network of fellow scholars and mentors to support them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cHonestly, when I first saw the email that I received the scholarship, I sat there shaking for like 30 seconds because I was so excited. It really is such a huge opportunity,\u201d says Riedy, who minors in Gender and Women\u2019s Studies and art. \u201cI\u2019m going to be able to graduate without college debt now, make connections with the other Voyagers, and be able this summer to have a hands-on experience that I\u2019m able to design and implement. It gives you a lot of new skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Riedy \u201924, who is originally from Allentown, Pennsylvania, and now lives in Kingston, has been interested in LGBTQ+ issues and public service ever since coming out in high school. Even as a child, she sought justice, and her parents called her \u201ctheir little lawyer\u201d for the way she defended her siblings from discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is definitely the area I\u2019m primarily interested in, especially as a queer woman,\u201d she says. \u201cThat has been something that has affected me throughout my life. Coming to 溏心vlog免费B站 and being a part of this community has definitely given me a large direction in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in a very conservative and religious community made coming out very difficult. A youth leader in her church, she was told she couldn\u2019t lead youth Bible studies, and members of the congregation stopped talking to her. In 2018, she entered the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. But lacking a support network, she ended up dropping out and eventually leaving home. With no place to go, she met a member of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Gender and Sexuality Center through a mutual friend and was able to find a place to stay as she worked to raise money to return to college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy dad has come around a little bit. But there was a lot of tension with my parents at that time as they tried to process it,\u201d she says. \u201cBut luckily I was able to make it through and make it here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Riedy enrolled at 溏心vlog免费B站 in the fall of 2021 and found her community, especially at the Gender and Sexuality Center, where she volunteered even before enrolling. Despite standing 5-foot-0, she\u2019s hard to miss as she walks on campus, with her pink hair and a distinctive campy style \u2013 big earrings, plenty of accessories, and clothing (some she\u2019s made herself) mainly in pink, red and black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI feel personal expression is such an important part of being able to navigate the world,\u201d she says. \u201cI like walking into a room and being instantly recognizable. But the other aspect is I have been through so many hardships in life that I don\u2019t see the point in purposely doing anything that would bring me less happiness than something else would.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She enjoys cooking and hosting friends, and she\u2019s an avid reader of essays on feminist theory, queer theory and philosophy. \u201cI like thinking about the way the world works and seeing how all of these different structures we have connect together to what we are,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the Dean\u2019s List each semester, she carries a 3.93 grade-point average, and she\u2019s been a leader on campus on LGBTQ+ issues. As a member of the Trans Inclusion Committee, she has worked on such issues as gender-inclusive bathrooms and inclusive curriculum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want to make sure that every student at 溏心vlog免费B站 at some point in their normal curriculum is exposed to LGBTQ+ issues,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel that\u2019s one of the big issues. If you\u2019re never exposed to those issues, how are you going to be able to respond in an appropriate way when you have a coworker or employee who is queer? Also, if queer students see this in their curriculum, they\u2019re going to feel accepted and included. And they\u2019re going to learn more about themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the Gender and Sexuality Center, which provides support to 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s LGBTQ+ community, Riedy is the event planning and education specialist, assisting on large-scale events such as the Big Gay Picnic and providing education and awareness as a Safe Zone facilitator. She is also a facilitator of Gal Pals, the center\u2019s discussion group on LGBTQ+ women\u2019s issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKatie works tirelessly,\u201d says Annie Russell, director of center. \u201cI know I can count on Katie as a staff member. She\u2019s insightful, dedicated, thorough, and creative in her approach to work, and these traits are among the many that have earned her this scholarship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along with Russell, who inspired her to major in communications, Riedy has also found a mentor in Kathleen McIntyre, associate professor of Gender and Women\u2019s Studies. \u201cI absolutely adore working with her,\u201d Riedy says. \u201cShe definitely has taught me a lot in my classes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McIntyre, who suggested Riedy apply for the Voyager Scholarship, says Riedy is a star student on many fronts \u2013 a skillful writer and researcher, and a great speaker who\u2019s enthusiastic to hear others\u2019 views. And she takes every project to the next level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis scholarship is just an incredible opportunity for someone who’s interested in leadership, who wants to build community and cares about policy issues nationally and internationally,\u201d says McIntyre. \u201cKatie wants to go to other places and work with transgender communities and make sure they are visible and included. I thought she’d be great. She’s such a leader already on campus; she needs a bigger venue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For her summer Voyager experience, Riedy is weighing several ways of working with LGBTQ+ youth who are facing major obstacles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Florida and Texas have passed anti-transgender measures such as restricting treatments that support a person\u2019s gender identity or preventing teachers from even discussing LGBTQ+ issues in the classroom. Working with an established group, or even on her own, she hopes to set up education programs for transgender youth in either state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or she may volunteer with an organization working to alleviate LGBTQ+ youth homelessness. According to the government website youth.gov, about 20% to 40% of homeless youth are LGBTQ+, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After she\u2019s done with college, Riedy\u2019s dream career would be to direct a women\u2019s center or gender and sexuality center on a college campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would love to do what Annie Russell does,\u201d she says. \u201cCollege is such an important transitionary stage in young people\u2019s lives, especially for LGBTQ+ students, who often need extra support as they discover their identity or begin to express themselves in college. It\u2019s really a place you can either fail or you can rise to the top.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Sept. 14, 2022 \u2013 Katie Riedy, a 溏心vlog免费B站 Communication Studies major, has been named among the inaugural 100 recipients of the prestigious Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship for Public Service, providing her support to pursue her interests in LGBTQ+ issues. Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, and Airbnb CEO Brian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":80719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80715"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80768,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80715\/revisions\/80768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}