The identity I think about most often is undoubtedly being a trans woman, this is both

due to the way it is important to me and a sense of pride, but also due to decisions beyond my
control that mean it impacts almost every aspect of my life. Being trans is not something that for
most people they are not born being aware of, and in fact everything in your life reinforces the
idea that you are not trans, that you are your assigned gender at birth. Because of that the
process of recognizing one’s feelings and coming to terms with being trans is a very long one,
and for most trans people takes a large portion of their life. Of course it also involves a process
of transitioning which for most people has a large material impact on their lives, because of the
cost and physical changes of medically transitioning. There is also the social impact in one’s
everyday life, being perceived as a trans woman is very different experiencing than as a cis boy
and people will treat you differently for better or worse. There is also the point in which you are
not perceived as a trans woman by everyone you meet, and taken to be a cis woman, which
comes with its own unique experience.
Another aspect of my identity that I have had a process of coming to terms with my
relationship to it is that of being Ponca and being indigenous. I am a member of the Ponca tribe
of Nebraska through my grandmother. It has been a process for me as I was raised with a
mixture of influences, from my dad’s side of the family who are a part of the conservative
Christian white American culture, and this was at times in conflict with the native culture from my
mom’s side of the family. We would celebrate Christmas and Easter and in many ways be a
standard white American family, but there would also be times when I would go to a pow wow,
or visit Ponca relatives with my grandmother and engage with this completely different culture.
This in part influenced my decision to come to the University of Washington because I knew it
had an active indigenous community on campus, and that wasn’t something I was able to
interact with much where I grew up except for occasional times. So the identity of being Ponca
does come into play in my life and I am introducing it to my life in more ways here at the
University of Washington, but it has been something that I have had to make an effort to put into
my life.