My mother and grandmother were both special education paraprofessionals, and I followed them into education. I graduated with a degree in literature and a teaching certificate from Seattle Pacific University in 2007. I married a musician I met in a coffeeshop in Fremont, and took jobs waiting tables and working as a tour guide in subterranean Seattle while I completed a Masters in Library and Information Science from the UW.
In 2014, my whole world fell apart when I was raped by a man in my neighborhood.
After the assault, I did my absolute best to do everything right. I went to the hospital, filed a police report, “cooperated”, but nothing about the process worked. For almost a year, I struggled through a system that was broken. I was enraged that this was what sexual assault survivors had to go through. The justice system was as traumatic as the rape itself, and I could not allow that to persist. I found champions willing to work with me to craft meaningful legislation.
I am running for State Representative because the 34th deserves a leader who recognizes that everyone has a story to tell.
As a librarian, it is my job to get just the right book to just the right reader at just the right time. This is what legislators should do: listen to the stories, make connections, and change systems and lives. I took my rage, and I channeled it into reform. What I understand now is that sexual violence intersects with almost every other issue; healthcare, education, economic justice, law enforcement, homelessness. Trauma is at the root of our society’s problems, and it is past time that we talk about it. There is so much to do, and I look forward to making those changes together.
