Awesomely Authentic is excited to welcome aboard a new Summer DEI intern, Jackson Stover. Jackson will work closely with our Founder, Matthew French, on social media, content creation, working with LGBTQ+ talent partners, and more. We are ecstatic to help develop the next generation of movers and shakers in the DEI space. Meet Jackson and learn more about him below.
Hi! My name is Jackson Stover, and I am a rising Junior at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I am an English Major with a concentration in Creative Writing, and am exploring the idea of minoring in Journalism as well. I'm from the small town of King, North Carolina, just on the edge of Winston Salem. I'm a strong lover of all things film, as well as music and poetry. In my free time, you can find me journaling, writing poetry, spending time with friends, thrifting, or turning on a 70s horror film. My personal favorite? "Jaws 2" or "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." My all time favorite movie is "Little Women," directed by Greta Gerwig, and my favorite artist is Daniel Caesar. I'm a big fashion head and find clothing to be an exceptional way to express myself, which is why I enjoy thrifting so much. One man's trash is in fact another man's treasure. A little fun fact about me is that I can pogo stick with no hands, and I love doing pottery.
Excitement in New Beginnings
For this internship, I am most excited about learning and educating myself on all different types of backgrounds that exist. Growing up in a small, southern, prominently white town, I think it's safe to say that I very much lacked diversity. Now that I'm in college and am having new experiences with all different types of people, I'm able to attain a much more holistic perspective on the world around me and all of the beauty that lies within it. I've found that one of the most wonderful gifts that we are given in life is that we are able to listen to others about the cultures, experiences, and lifestyles that differ from our own.
I'm a big believer in inclusion, and I believe that all people, regardless of their race, background, sexuality, or whatever identities they possess that makes them unique, deserve to be respected and feel that they belong. Humans are supposed to be different, it's what makes society complex; it's what keeps life from getting boring. All people deserve to be celebrated for who they are and what makes them special, and with DEI, that can be achieved.
"We're only given one body, one soul, and one life, so why wouldn't we express them in their entirety?"
I think that authenticity is extremely important for every single aspect of your life, especially in the classroom and at work. Work and school take up a big chunk of the time we spend as humans, and life is too short to be anything but exactly who you are throughout this time. We're only given one body, one soul, and one life, so why wouldn't we express them in their entirety? After all, authenticity is how we show the beauty that lives inside us. It's the only way we can truly be ourselves and share that with other human beings.
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