The Bedsider Ambassadors at UMD was developed by bedsider.org, an website that provides birth control support for women 18-29 online. Its goal is “to help women find the method of birth control that’s right for them and learn how to use it consistently and effectively, and that’s it,” according to their official website. Following on their goal, the Bedsider Ambassadors at UMD provide events, presentations and more to inform, engage and entertain college students about birth control at UMD. Here to explain more about her role as an UMD Bedsider Ambassador is Connor Davies!
Name : Connor Davies
Major/Year : Public and Community Health / Junior
Other than being a Bedsider Ambassador, what other activities/clubs are you involved in at UMD?
Currently, I am involved in Peer Education with SHARE (Sexual Health and Reproductive Education) with the University Health Center; I wish I could be involved with more things! But between Bedsider, SHARE and all my classes, I am tapped out most of the time. When I do have some spare time, I like to cook (I love making baked goods for the Bedsider events we put on!), watch copious amounts of Netflix and work out.
Why did you decide to become an Bedsider Ambassador?
Coming in to my sophomore year at UMD, I was already looking for more ways to become involved on campus but the one thing that really gave me the final push toward being a Bedsider Ambassador was the fact that I was going to be able to help my peers. And the fact that I am so crazy about birth control I doodle IUD’s on my papers without thinking about it…ok that might be a little strange.
How did you become a Bedsider Ambassador?
I was introduced to Bedsider in a class, HLTH 477, when my now coordinator Stefanie Boltz came in to give a Bedsider walk through. At the time I was just figuring out that my passion for public health was in human sexuality and the idea that there was an organization that made prevention and protection not just fun but sexy pretty much blew my mind. I’m pretty sure I was a little bit annoying, but as soon as she was done presenting I ambushed Stefanie and made it clear that I wanted to be involved, it didn’t matter in what capacity, but I wanted to be part of Bedsider. From there I went to as many Bedsider events that were open to me. After that, I was received an email during the summer of 2012 that was actually just stating a fact that I was now a Bedsider Ambassador, haha, there was no real application process. Though I suspect that was because this was the first year Bedsider Ambassadors existed! During the fall semester of 2013, I will be looking for more Ambassadors, all my Ambassador peeps are seniors!
Why do you think should females, particularly college females, should learn more about contraception use?
I feel like a lot of assumptions are made about college aged women and unintended pregnancy, like just how much we know about contraception and how well we would be able to provide for a child. So much emphasis is put on teen pregnancy but a span of 3 or 4 years does not make that much difference especially when you add student loans. Because YES an unintended pregnancy is still a big freaking deal to a women in her 20’s, and no one talks about it! I believe that Bedsider is a great tool for getting the conversation going. After we start talking about contraceptive use, we can all learn that there is way more out there than the pill (though it is a great option for a lot of women).
For instance, I have a horrible memory, I once took an exam, came home and fell asleep, woke up again and thought I missed the whole thing. I was never going to remember to take a pill everyday at the same time. I learned about the implant from Bedsider, a small plastic rod about the size of a matchstick in my arm that will be effective for 3 years, no stress! There are more options out there for the forgetful people of the world, not to mention non-hormonal methods. I guess what I’m trying to say is that, as women, we are only really offered the pill in the OBGYNs office and there isn’t a question about what would work best for us. I feel the best way to combat that and to find a method that would work for the individual they need to be educated enough to know what to ask for and that is where more contraceptive education comes in to play.
What are the challenges and advantages of being a Bedsider Ambassador? Have you funny/interesting moments/stories as a Bedsider Ambassador? If so, could you share one?
There have definitely been some challenges being a Bedsider Ambassador! First and foremost of the problems were that not only were we a new group on campus, but we were also dealing with sexuality based issues. So getting our foot in the door was a challenge, but once we were in, things started to move pretty fast. We have a couple of events we can put on for groups, including a Bedsider walk through which includes our own version of sexy cranium, a movie night where we can all hunker down watch a movie and then talk about the contraceptive choices made (Or not made! Think Knocked Up), we can table at events and do give always on the campus. However, UMD is pretty huge, and there is not a lot of parking, so bringing all of the supplies we need for these events across campus can be a challenge.
For instance, I keep most of the supplies at my apartment (yay for storage space!) and was running late for an event with Bisexuals At Maryland, but also still had to stop at the Commons Shop for some bananas (let your mind run wild!). Loaded down with three bags and a backpack, I started my journey to the store and I made it just fine, the bananas were in my hands and all I had to do was head to the register and everything was going to run smoothly…right? NOPE! I had conveniently put my purse at the bottom of the condom bag filled to the brim with over 300 condoms, female condoms, dental dams and lube topped off with a fresh baked plate of penis cookies. No big deal, all I had to do was some creative digging and there would be no problems, of course not, the strap broke and there was a river of condoms all across the floor of the commons shop. In the end, I found my purse in the condom river, calmly bought my bananas, got down on my hands and knees to pick everything up and walked out of the store with my head held high. There really wasn’t anything else I could have done! Well…maybe I could have dropped a Bedsider pamphlet on the counter; I’ll remember that for the next condom avalanche.
What are the roles/responsibilities of a Bedsider Ambassador?
The main role of a Bedsider Ambassador is to be a peer educator; it’s kind of like sitting down and having a talk with your friends but with at least one of those friends having more realiable birth control knowledge you ever thought possible. Along with that we need to be able to devote at least 10 hours a week doing things like networking to student groups across campus to see it they would like a presentation and how we can tailor it to them, we are always updating our Bedsider UMD facebook (www.facebook.com/BedsiderUMD) with events that we are putting on and with links to bedsider.org or little funny things we find. We also spend a lot of time creating and editing our events and presentations, changing that don’t work and adding in things that come up and could be more effective. We get all of this accomplished meeting a couple of times a week with the fellow ambassadors and are currently looking for some student volunteers who would be interested in helping out!
If you could sum it up in one word about being an Bedsider Ambassador, what would it be and why?
One word? Oh my goodness…this is going to be hard. But I’m going to say ‘New.’ I don’t think a campus organization dealing with contraception and education has been done like this before with such an amazing organization supporting it. I have made amazing new friendships, met new people. But most of all we are starting new conversations; hopefully creating a new environment where it’s ok to talk about birth control and where birth control can be sexy too!