“I like the idea of feminism because it encourages you to take pride in yourself. It deconstructs stereotypes, which can be very liberating.”
— Jillian Tavares
Hometown:
East Greenwich, Rhode Island
Academic Path:
Women’s Studies and English double major
Campus Involvement:
Orchesis (Vice President and 3-year Choreographer); Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society (Historian); Kappa Kappa Gamma (Assistant New Member Chairman).
Community Connections:
“I serve as an intern for the Gifted and Talented Program in the Meadville community. My job is to teach creative writing classes to junior high and high school students. When I’m not at Allegheny, I am also a special needs camp counselor at my local YMCA in Rhode Island.”
Future Plans:
“I love literature, reading, and writing, so my ultimate dream would be to become an author. Hopefully I can get that started through my senior project, for which I intend to write feminist poetry. More realistically, having a passion for education, I would love to become a high school English teacher who educates students through a feminist lens.”
Most Memorable Allegheny Experience:
“As part of a course with Professor Shaw that focused on women and violence, I submitted a conference paper to the 2011 Central Pennsylvania Consortium Women’s Studies Conference on “Gender and Violence,” which was held at Dickinson College. The subject of my paper was structural violence, specifically that of police violence against sex workers, and it was based on Sex Work by Priscilla Alexander. I was so grateful when I found out I was chosen to present at the conference, and I had a great experience researching, interacting with my professor one-on-one, and sharing my ideas with the other conference attendees and participants. It was such an eye-opening experience to express my months of research and writing, and I did so as a sophomore among a panel of professors! The conference gave me so much confidence, especially when I received nods of approval from a professor on my panel who really engaged with my message.”
Girl Power
“I like the idea of feminism because it encourages you to take pride in yourself. It deconstructs stereotypes, which can be very liberating. Women’s Studies is a subject that looks at the silent history of women and gives a voice to topics that are not often brought to light. It is all at once eye-opening, original, creative, and exploratory, and I love all of that. Being a Women’s Studies major at Allegheny has been great – I always felt encouraged and never had to shy away from my passionate views.”