The Facing Project is a community service club at UCLA that aims to share the stories of students who have faced hurdles when reaching their dreams of higher education (as stated on the UCLA Facing Project website). The project enlists a team of writers to be paired one-on-one with students who are willing to share their stories in order to better educate the UCLA community. The project culminates into a book filled with these stories that are written in the first person, and distributed to the UCLA community. The book’s theme this year is “Gender and Sexuality.” I got to meet with Nicole Penrod, a third year English major, and one of the Facing Project editors to hear about her experiences with the club.
Her Campus: How did you get involved with the Facing Project?
Nicole Penrod: I got an email from Active Minds, the mental health organization I was involved with at the time, about the project looking for writers for last year’s book (the theme was mental health). I knew almost nothing about it, but the description sounded interesting so I joined on a whim and haven’t looked back.
HC: Why do you think it is important to share the stories of your fellow students?
NP: I strongly believe that very few things touch people like a story. We get bombarded with statistics all the time, but most people feel like they’ve really connected to a movement or idea only when they understand what it’s like to go through it yourself. We can’t all be directly connected to every group, obviously, but in my mind the next closest thing is hearing what it’s like in someone’s own words. Beyond that, having the project be entirely student run brings the stories that much closer to home.
HC: What was your first experience of writing someone’s story like? What is the most rewarding aspect of being a leader of the club this year?
NP: When I was a writer, our theme was centered on mental health, and it was really interesting to try to balance the creative writing aspect of the project with staying true to my storytellers’ voices. It was incredibly powerful to be able to project their experiences into a piece of writing like that, and seeing the way their confidence grew as the story took shape was so rewarding.
The most rewarding aspect of being a leader is really being able to put more of myself into the final product of the overall book. Last year, I was responsible for two stories, but this year I’m overseeing six and adding input to others. The decision making at the top level is shared by the entire executive board, and we’re a young project so it’s cool to be able to shape what the project looks like and what ways we can improve it from last year and keep improving well into the future.
HC: What does the Facing Project’s theme this year, “Gender and Sexuality,” mean to you? Why is this topic particularly important at this time?
NP: In the last few years, the world has come a long, long way in terms of understanding gender and sexuality, not just defaulting to “straight” as an assumption, and listening and learning from each other. As one of the most LGBTQ+-friendly universities in the country, that’s especially true here at UCLA. That being said, the prevailing image of the LGBTQ+ community for most people is still a white, cisgender gay man. The community extends so far beyond that, and we have to keep working to break down barriers and acknowledge the power of diversity. This year’s book has a spectacularly wide array of stories from people from incredibly diverse backgrounds, and I’m excited to continue pushing at stereotypes and widen people’s viewpoints.
HC: Any advice for aspiring writers?
NP: The best way to get better at writing is to write. It seems simple, but it can be easy to make the assumption that people who write regularly/consistently/”well,” whatever that means/etc were born with magic abilities and were perfect from the get go, which just isn’t true. I write pretty much every day and have done so for going on ten years now (time flies) and I’ve come a long way but still have so, so much to learn.
Beyond that, read widely. Educate yourself. Make sure your writing isn’t contributing to harmful stereotypes. Push the envelope in new and exciting ways that don’t rely on killing the protagonist’s girlfriend before the story even starts, or adding to the stigma of mental health by putting in a “crazy” villain for shock value. If you’re not confident writing about someone that doesn’t share your exact background, learn and listen until you are.
It’s a great big world out there, and writing only what you know is the best way to put yourself into a box.
HC: How can potential writers/storytellers get involved? Where and when can we find this year’s book?
NP: We accept new writers and storytellers on a rolling basis! If you want to tell your story regarding the ways gender and sexuality have shaped your life both as a Bruin and before, or you’re interested in turning someone else’s story into a creative piece of writing, check us out at http://facingprojectucla.weebly.com/.
This year’s book will be released at our launch in the spring! You can get a free copy of the book, listen to storytellers read their stories, grab some food, and more. Date/time TBA so look out for that!