Introduction

Hello!

         

          My name is Chelsea Leitz, I am in my third year at UCF as an Elementary Education major.  I was born and raised in Melbourne, Florida, a small town about an hour east of here.  I started my education at UCF as a freshman and have been in love with the school ever since.   I am currently employed as the Youth Activities Coordinator at a country club in Winter Park.  There my duties include running the child care programs and supervising activities during family nights.   In addition to working part time I also volunteer in the community and am involved in a Greek organization on campus.  As part of my major I have had multiple courses with a Service Learning Requirement.  Through my Service Learning Experience I was able to build a relationship with a Kindergarten teacher at an Orange County Elementary School and continue to volunteer in her classroom.  Through my Service Learning Experiences I realized that becoming a classroom teacher isn’t the career  I’d like to have after graduating school.  I have decided to finish my degree and apply to graduate school for a masters in Occupational Therapy.  With this decision I began volunteering at Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital where I help with the “Art Cart”. 

                

               I decided to take Introduction to Women’s Studies after hearing about it from a friend of mine who took the course last semester.  I was a bit skeptical about enrolling in the course seeing as it doesn’t directly correlate to my major.  After talking about it more with my friend she said that the class was a good experience and seeing as teaching is a career largely dominated by women the information learned in the class could be more linked to my major than I had previously thought.  I have always enjoyed taking history courses but have never learned a lot in the way of the history of women’s rights.   While contemplating registering for the course, I thought that especially as a woman that I should be more well-versed in the not only the history of women’s rights but also what is going on with women’s rights today and the ongoing struggles modern day women are facing.

                

              Prior to the first day of class where we discussed the “F-Word” I was never clear on the actual definition of feminism.  I have always associated the word feminism with pride, being proud to either be a woman or proud of women and believing in their ability to accomplish their goals and be successful in the same fields as men.  This term differs from Women’s Studies because I see Women’s Studies as exploring the history of how the role of the female has changed in society throughout history and the effects that these changes have on us now.  In addition I have always associated Women’s Studies as focusing on the facts and learning about gender roles in society and in different parts of the world where as I have always associated feminism with activism.  When I think of activism several big movements come to mind.  The first is civil rights, specifically historical figures such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.  The next is the Women’s rights movement and the iconic pictures of women marching for their right to vote.   I don’t have a lot of background knowledge on this movement and will be very interested to learn more about this and the other topics related to women’s studies.

I have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course and blogging protocols outlined in the syllabus.

-Chelsea Leitz