My name is Shonte Clement, and I am a Senior Digital Culture and Design student from Greenville, South Carolina. My preferred pronouns are she, hers, and hers. I am a Black cisgender woman, and I identify as bisexual.

I originally wanted to be a part of this project to learn more about the life experiences of those in the trans community. It was meant to be an act of solidarity as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. I also wanted to learn of the different struggles trans people face that I may never know, and how I could be a better ally to the community as a whole. As the project went on, I realized that reason was not deep enough for me. I learned so much from interviewing those that were willing to speak with us. There is a whole worldview and perspective that I will never have because I am a cis-woman. Hearing these stories and life experiences made me aware of how deeply we should care about the trans experience. 

Being a part of this process has really increased my heart’s capacity; I cried during most of the interviews that I conducted. I was already soft-hearted, but I realized that being empathetic and genuinely caring about what people have to say is my best way to live. It is so important that we are invested in these stories not only because they are about people around us, but because their lack of visibility shows us where we are in our humanity. People say that you can only care so much, but you have to push that care to its limit before declaring where it ends. I’m incredibly grateful, because this project has shown me that I want to live my life caring to the fullest extent.