Taking my place in history for her
Taking my place in history for her
By Gianny Guzman
Women in history are known to be overlooked and made small. The women in my family have been forgotten and overlooked, and even I didn’t realize how much these women have motivated and affected me and my writing. This is my thank you letter to those women, and this is my message for them. It’s inspirational and it comes from my heart.
Process
I wanted this project to be an overall analysis of where most of my inspiration comes from. Through this project, I realized that it came from a place I wasn’t even aware of beforehand. I used Anchor for this piece, and I struggled with the technical aspects, but after I understood all its functions, it was fun. When I completed the project, I felt proud and intrigued. This project opens up new aspects of pieces for me.
Meet the Pair
MENTEE GIANNY GUZMAN & MENTOR HERMOINE HOBY
Gianny’s Anecdote: In my first year as a mentee, I placed Hermione on this golden pedestal. I looked up to her as this beacon of hope, knowledge, and wisdom. Four years later, she is my mentor and friend, and remains this beacon of light in my life. I may have taken her down from that pedestal, but not because she let me down, but because she surpassed everything I ever thought of her. Her kindness and wisdom astonish me every day. I look to her for guidance, or even just for someone to have a conversation with. She is more than the pedestal I placed her on.
Hermoine’s Anecdote: Five years ago I met an effervescent thirteen-year-old who squealed upon meeting “a real Hermione.” I remain a “real Hermione” and Gianny Guzman remains a real Harry Potter fan—these things have stayed the same—but when I recall the moment we met, I feel a kind of vertigo of transformation. As in, how, in the space of just a few years, did that girl become this woman? Recently, she told me she wanted us to research political candidates together ahead of the 2020 election. My seventeen-year-old self was shamed! Would that I’d had such a level of civic engagement or been so comprehensively versed in feminist debate at that age! I marvel at the person Gianny has become. She is a woman of principle, compassion, conviction. She is ambitious, kind, funny, curious, a formidably well-informed citizen, a natural leader, a caring friend, and a writer of great talent. In short, she embodies everything I hope for in her generation.
