Student Scholarship

Mardzhona Odinaeva

Mardzhona Odinaeva, 2022 Recipient

If you’re lost and struggling with your identity, sexuality, or if you want to know more about what it is to be a woman, or what makes you one - take a course of Women’s and Gender Studies. I’ve been struggling a lot with my identity. With what I am besides being a daughter, a wife, or a mother-so I did some research and decided to take a course in Brooklyn college. I have learned a lot about womanhood, not only at personal level, but also globally. If you take a course in this interdisciplinary field you will learn how gender, ethnicity, race, socio-economic status and everything else impacts our lives. You will learn how women affect economic and political situations globally. This course teaches valuable and unique perspectives regarding current issues that women are facing around the world and provides you with media literacy and research skills.

The professors in this field are very caring. They will go out of their way to educate you and answer all your questions until you understand everything. You will never feel discriminated against or neglected, because the professors will accept you for who you are and encourage you to explore yourself. Especially Professor Aultman and Dr. Florence. They will help you not only with school, but even if you are facing personal issues. Professor Florence consistently makes sure that students are doing well and will always get in touch with you even if it’s late in the day. They care about students so much and not because it’s their job, or because they have to – but simply because they really care. I feel like I will always have people I could rely on and professors will guide my way and put me on the right track if I get lost again.

I’m eternally grateful to them and glad that I took this course. I recommend you should too.

Matthew Montan

Matthew Montan, 2022 Recipient

Being a part of the Women's and Gender Studies program has given me a wonderful foundation to understanding people and viewing certain things from a different perspective. I took one intro-level class and I just immediately fell in love with the professor and my classmates. I would definitely recommend this program to anyone who enters Brooklyn College as a freshman because you meet so many amazing people. You learn about topics that not a lot of people pay attention to while also learning something about other people and yourself during the journey. I was very nervous transferring to another school while also balancing classes virtually at the time. But these instructors are very understanding and wonderful human beings. They make the material you'll learn in class fun and engaging and thought provoking. I'm so proud to be a part of this program, and I hope more people will be a part of it as well.

Ayesha Saleem

Ayesha Saleem, 2021 Recipient

The Women's and Gender Studies program has been one of the most rewarding experiences for me and continues to help shape the individual that I aspire to be. The classes that I have taken so far have guided me and have introduced me to some of the most incredible peers and educators. While the past two years have been challenging for several reasons, the faculty and professors at Brooklyn College have done an exceptional job at easing the transition for the students, and for that I am truly grateful. I hope that I can take all that I have learned and to further my studies by doing a master’s in social work. Helping and advocating for individuals that don’t have access to the same opportunities within minority communities is extremely important for me and I hope that I can be of help to those that are underserved within our community.

Alexander Lewis

Alexander Lewis, 2021 Recipient

The staff and professors who teach the Women’s and Gender Studies courses are some of the most approachable people I have met at Brooklyn College. Professors Gaston Alonso and Brandon Aultman are exceptional. They teach Politics of Masculinities (WGST 3353) and Fundamental Concepts in LGBTQ Studies (WGST 2100), respectively. We had vibrant, engaging discussions about readings. You can count on Professor Alonso to play music before class; he’s very receptive to music recommendations related to course themes. Professor Aultman is always helpful in unpacking the more complex topics and keeps us up-to-date with current events. 

Thanks to these professors, adapting to online classes was more manageable, so I recommend taking their courses to ease into the format. Women’s and Gender Studies classes help us challenge stereotypes, reckon with the worlds we transverse daily, create links between legacies of violence, understand ourselves better (as men, women, or non-binary people), and serve as a source of inspiration. The diverse speakers we get to meet are another reason to take a course. Online communication makes it easier to hear from people across the globe, reinforcing the importance of global solidarity.

I’m debating between applying for a MA in Women’s and Gender Studies or an MS in Library and Information Science in the future. I want to bring more awareness to cis men about the importance of approaching feminist theories. It would be fulfilling to investigate depictions of characters in the gaming sphere and search archives tracing histories of specific characters. That way, we can confront toxic masculinity, harness tools to become agents of change and redefine our role in society.

Contrary to what most would think, Women’s and Gender Studies—like feminism—is for all walks of life. The #MeToo movement and pandemic helped expose many micro and macro issues women and members of the LGBTQIA+ community face in our society, making it necessary to evolve, gather as many people as possible, and address them. 

Muhammad Irtaza

Muhammad Irtaza, 2020 Recipient

The Women's and Gender Studies major has had a big impact on my life, both in my academic journey and personal journey. Having the major has helped me analyze and understand how the political, social, cultural, historical, and economic forces of our society and the world have shaped how things are as well as how they are evolving. This is especially true when factoring in how these forces work with, or against, race, gender, sexuality, and power, and the effect it can and will have on people, especially marginalized groups. Additionally, being a recipient of the Women's and Gender Studies Student Scholarship has aided me tremendously; it has helped ease my academic journey in college financially and has given me support in building and creating my career path for the future, which the women's and gender studies major will play a big role in. I highly recommend everyone to at least take one women's and gender studies class if you wish to explore the world through a different lense, and to those who are women's and gender studies majors, I also highly recommend applying for the scholarship!

Megan Jajeh

Megan Jajeh, 2020 Recipient

The Women's and Gender Studies program has changed my life. Coming to New York all the way from San Francisco, I found a home within this community. The teachers and coordinators have been very proactive with my needs and made sure I was on the right path to graduate. Being recognized by this program has been a great honor to me. I recommend the program, as it offers meticulous courses about past and contemporary movements. Women's and Gender Studies 1001 is the perfect stepping stone to understanding intersectionality and feminist texts. This program has deepened my understanding about myself and the society we live in.

Ivy Barrett Fox Bryan

Ivy Barrett Fox Bryan, 2019 Recipient

The best part of my time at Brooklyn College was being a women's and gender studies major. Everyone in the program is so warm and caring. I feel like I am part of the women's and gender studies family forever! The program has literally changed the direction of my life. So many amazing opportunities have opened up to me from being in this program. Being a recipient of the student scholarship opened up my entire last year of college because I didn't have to worry about paying for school and could spend my time building relationships and having an amazing senior year!

Kardin Ulysse

Kardin Ulysse, 2019 Recipient

The prosperity of my education has shaped my identity and given me the words and knowledge to communicate my experiences in higher education. Given the enhancements to my character after building a core and network around women's and gender studies, I have seen the resiliencies of marginalization from a gender perspective. Seeing and embracing the essence of humanity without the confines of traditional gender roles and how going against the grain is for those who seek the greatest comforts in their lives. Historically, our people rarely get exactly what we want, having to fight for space that is given rather than earned, but the durability of our wish for social equity and equality is one that I feel can be achieved through optimism, education, and justice for those who break free from the constraints of our present world. My degree and education in women's and genders studies will ensure that those within my network have a professional with a strong background in social justice, so they have no reason to be on the wrong side of justice.

Mariaisabel Zweig

Mariaisabel Zweig, 2015 Recipient

My experience as a women's and gender studies major continues to be a source of strength in my personal and professional development. As a doctoral student of clinical psychology, my WGST background strengthened my conceptualization and treatment of patients with a perspective that addresses cultural factors' impact on their lived experiences. I entered graduate school with experience engaging in challenging and uncomfortable discussions with classmates and faculty about feminism, racism, the spectrum of sexuality, gender identity and expression, and the impact of colonization on how we define success, beauty, and wellness. Cultural humility and intersectionality is a significant point of focus in my graduate studies.  The roots of knowledge that have resulted in so many of the concepts and principles I hold as critical to my engagement with the world were planted and nourished at Brooklyn College. I am currently completing my final clinical practicum providing psychotherapy to adults with Opiate Use Disorder.

I look forward to starting my doctoral internship at an inpatient psychiatric hospital in Philadelphia in May 2021. In WGST, I learned that the personal is indeed political. WGST turned my world upside down. Now, I help others view themselves and the world around them from different perspectives. WGST gave me the tools I needed to pursue my career in clinical psychology.

Allesandra Valentin

Allesandra Valentin, 2012 Recipient

WGST 1001 is a course that fundamentally reshaped the course of my life and made me who I am today. I entered into the course with a sense of the injustice that I faced as a queer, nonbinary, femme of color but without the vocabulary to explain what I had experienced and understand why. The class gave me that vocabulary as well as a foundation in critical thinking that made me a better student and a better person. I began to unpack not only how structural inequality is created and perpetuated but also work to craft a vision of a feminist future that would ensure safety and success for all. The passion I developed for feminist theory pushed me to change my major and put me on the path toward the success I've had today as an educator at Rutgers University and soon to be Ph.D. in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. All of the courses I took and the scholarship that I was graciously awarded by the department are a huge part of why I am a compassionate, rigorous and dedicated scholar. I am forever grateful for the Women's and Gender Studies Program.