Humbled

Today i had a friend tell me of the first time we met.

She said we met in the student of colour lounge during the Summer before her First Year. She told me I gave her the 'deadface' when she told me that she hadn't registered for classes and that I told her to talk with the awesome, queer academic advisor. I apparently also told her about the paltry transit system in Oly, which helped her out a lot.

I sat in embarrassed shock, because I vaguely recalled this and also, my manner is so not PNW--it's purely Southern and comes off as a little.... harsh. :/

But my friend said I helped her out so much and 'gave a face to the process' or at least scaled it down to a manageable size.

I'm still shocked. I don't think often about my impact with my peers, or at least first impressions, particularly when I'm relaxed and not in PNW-mode.

But to know that I helped her out, and showed her where the path is... she said her college experience would have been vastly different if she hadn't encountered me in the lounge that day.  And that she's thankful for it.

I am so fucking humbled. So fucking humbled to know that something that didn't mean much to me, meant so much to someone else and that I helped her navigate this hugely, dizzying, bureaucratic system. Particularly as a women of colour.

Holy fucking shit.

I think a lot about my impact with kiddos, because I work with kids, but I often forget to think about how the way I move through the world influences my peers.

Things I need to be more mindful of.....