From High School to College

Going from a familiar community of friends and family to a conservative college is nerve racking. Finding those queer relationships at college, rather than self-isolating, is going to be important. Seeing open questions on the college application is giving a sense of hope that the new community will be okay.

Find out more about us by visiting our website, kindomcommunity.org. There you can find information about kin•dom camp and consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram @kindomcommunity to keep up with all the important information. 

Transcript

music  0:00  
[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "Oh let's build, let's build a place we can go”]

Narrator  0:09  
Thank you for tuning into kin•dom campfire chats, a podcast of kin•dom community. This podcast features the voices of LGBTQIA+ persons, both youth participants and adult staff, who attended kin•dom camp in Texas in the summer of 2024. We asked the camp participants to think of a question that they wished someone would ask them about their life journey. With a friend, and in their own words, the campers tell their stories of struggle, love, support, and a community found. We invite you to listen with an open mind and an open heart.

music  0:50  
[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "This is the place”]

speaker 1  0:56  
So as a queer person, how has the transition from high school to college been for you?

speaker 2  1:05  
Okay, so it's very nerve-wracking, because you're going from somewhere where you finally found your community and your friends, and going a complete opposite place from them, for the most part. Like I'm staying three hours from home while some of my friends are staying at home and some are going states away, and that is nerve wracking, knowing that you're going into a new place with no one there but yourself, basically, because your parents and your siblings won't be there either. And especially, going to a conservative college is nerve wrecking because you don't know how you're going to be treated as a queer individual, and having to go through that battle alone like I've been lucky enough to find other queer people to share a dorm with, or other queer people in my major. And this like I haven't even started my first year yet, but finding those relationships are going to be important to growing through college and not self-isolating, because that does affect mental illness, I would know it has affected me prior years in school. So like just finding those relationships and forming that community is important.

music  2:30  
[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "Oh let's build”]

Baylee  2:38  
Hi y'all, it's Baylee. I'm the Creative Director of kin•dom community. I’d like to talk a little bit more about kin•dom camp and how you can get involved. kin•dom camp is an opportunity for LGBTQIA+ youth ages 12 to 17 to feel safe and free to show up as their full selves. Campers will have the chance to experience traditional camp activities and recreation, plus some specialized programming to incorporate LGBTQIA+ history and culture. More information can be found on our website kindomcommunity.org/camp. If you have any questions you can't find the answers to, you can email us at kindomcamp@gmail.com.

Thanks for listening to kin•dom campfire chats. We are proud to be a safe space for these campers, and we are even more proud of them for sharing their stories. We hope you'll keep gathering around the campfire with us as we celebrate all of the stories that make us this kin•dom community.