Cassandra Skolnick is a graduating Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies B.A. with a Specialization in Gender and Social Change and a Minor in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. As graduation approaches, WGSS seniors reflect on their time in the department. 

What made you pursue a Women’s and Gender Studies (WST) major/minor? 

 I discovered myself living through a viral pandemic, one traversing centuries before I was born. A pandemic that privileges the few and oppresses the many. I knew these inequalities existed, but I found why they existed to be incomprehensible. I was ecstatic when I learned about the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies major at Stony Brook University, feeling that I might finally be capable of answering the question we have all asked at some point in our lives… why? My passion is for genuine social change, establishing an alternative society that raises us all up and leaves none of us behind. The Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies program incorporates interdisciplinary methodologies that prepare students for critically assessing the world around them. These skills are something I knew would be invaluable for my future pursuits!  

 Are there any professors and/or classes that had an impact on you? 

 Professor Hiemstra has been a mentor and inspiration to me throughout my time at Stony Brook University. Her passion and knowledge of feminism, borders, and immigration has peeked my own interests in how the concept of borders permeate everyday life and create racialized and gendered divisions, maintaining heteronormative hierarchies. Professor Montegary also had a significant impact on me as I researched and prepared my senior thesis in the Fall 2021 semester. She encouraged me to delve into the unknown and unexplored, making significant contributions to academic conversations. The result is a senior thesis that I am proud to stand behind.  

What was your experience like in the WGSS department?

 I found my experience in the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies department to be invaluable, gratifying, and rewarding. The professors are experts in their field, providing insightful and consequential discussion, and encouraging students to step beyond their comfort zone. The program is inclusive of students from all backgrounds and intersectional identities. I identified with many of my peers, feeling not so alone in a world that has discriminated on me and oppressed me. The Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies department is like an extended family, and I have so much appreciation and admiration for all my extended family!   

 What will you miss most about the WGSS department when you graduate? 

This is a tough question, but I am going to miss Professor Hiemstra the most. She has supported me in my academic and activist pursuits since I transferred to Stony Brook University. She has involved me in research projects, peer mentoring, and graduate studies, greatly influencing my future academic pursuits, research, and career decisions.  

 What do you plan on doing in the future?

I launched a nonprofit organization called, Society of Advocates Fighting for Equality (S.A.F.E.), with aspirations of engaging in meaningful advocacy work and community education, targeting the foundations of the heteropatriarchy. I also plan on attending law school to earn a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, using the judicial system as a platform to breach the crevasses of our capitalist society. I have also considered authoring a book, connecting what I learned from historical feminist philosophers with my own lived experiences and personal theories for evolving feminism.