Passion Projects

This week we've begun to sketch out ideas for our passion projects. There are so many different ideas about what to do in this classroom that could make a huge impact on our community- and I plan to make mine successful. Of course, that's the plan for all of us, but I truly do believe in the importance of my own that I'm willing to throw all the time I might have into it.

My project is the education of the world about what MOGAI is and what we stand for. I have a firm belief that statistics about how many of us there are are skewed by the simple misinformation and disinformation of so many, even in pro-MOGAI areas. In the Bible Belt where I live and so many other places- even whole countries- all around the world, you can find worst-case scenarios. That's a problem, as I've discussed before, and I aim to fix it, on however large a scale I can.

But Annika, you might say, the world's so big, and your little corner of the Internet can only reach so far.

That might be so, but I believe that the phenomenon that's proved itself effective for so many causes can prove itself again through me and my classmates. Information spreads like wildfire these days- projects, webcomics, blogs like mine, they've all exploded in the past ten years and become massively popular.

This project is something very close to my heart. I identify as under the asexual umbrella- and yes, I do know my specific orientation, but for privacy reasons I don't feel comfortable sharing it- and there are so many people who've been open to learning about what that means, but before I told them they had no idea.

Of course, these people are mostly last-generation adults. My generation of teenagers in America have the massive advantage of the internet. However, there are places that the safe spaces I've found don't reach, and America isn't the only place with MOGAI people- teenagers, children, and adults alike. I want to reach them, however I can, and show them that they aren't alone, that they're not broken, that they are valid as who they are, and no one should ever tell them otherwise.

If I can even change one person's life like that, then I count it as a victory for all the work I'm going to put into this project.

This blog is the beginning of that. I'm boosting its signal through my real-life community, people who I know will support my mission, and already I've begun to realize just how many connections we can make, and the more the better. If I'm to succeed, then I'm going to need a lot of people to help me along, but I've found some in my classroom, in my school, in my home and my church and my city. 

I'm going to pitch this project to my class last week, and I hope that I can sound convincing enough to have my proposal accepted. If that happens, then the real work can start. 

I'm going to love it.