Interview with Samm Martin conducted by Gayle Schaub and Cara Cadena for the GVSU Libraries' Connected Exhibit, displayed in September 2016. Edited clips of interviews accompanied watercolor portraits of students and an interactive watercolor…

Journal of GVSU student Haley Marek's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many of you will recognize GVSU's Laker store and the kiosk to pay for campus parking. For me, this photo represents why I've struggled to really feel like I belong to any sort of broader GVSU community and why campus has always felt slightly hostile…

This is the concrete walkway that connects the English buildings to the rest of campus. I make use of it almost every weekday as I shuffle between my English classes in Lake Huron Hall and my history classes in Mackinac. It's invaluable to me, but it…

The Arboretum represents the most valuable thing the GVSU campus provides me: a space to learn, grow, and build communities. The Arboretum is essentially a park, a place for plants to grow and animals and students to congregate. It's simple places…

That small red smudge is a cardinal that had been resting on the vine covered awning outside the Arboretum. I believe that if you create the space for beauty and love, then beauty and love will flourish. Even if some beautiful things are fleeting,…

This is my Chimarrão mug next to my backyard fireplace. Chimarrão is a indigenous tea from my home region of south Brasil. It's immensely popular and is often shared and passed around at parties and other gatherings. For me, it represents what I…

Journal of GVSU student Natalie Lowengruber's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Journal of GVSU student Linley Lounds' experiences with online classes and work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Growing up, I didn't have a lot of exposure to LGBT books, fiction or non-fiction. Every reference was treated with a great deal of sterility and distance if not complete dismissal. So to find out we had an entire little library on campus dedicated…

Since I realized I was trans, I knew that being rejected by my family was inevitable. It's been about a year since my father formally decided to disown me and ex-communicate me almost completely. His version of devout Christianity just didn't have…

As a queer person, it's sometimes tough to find religious spaces that feel like they actually accommodate us for all parts of who we are. Finding a church community often means grappling with significant trauma and pain caused by such groups. As a…