As a wide eyed freshman at UW Fall Quarter 2014, I was in a FIG, I took German and I took SOC 270 aka Social Problems. German was taught by a grad student and my FIG was peer led, so that meant that Professor Harris was my first actual Professor. Walking into a 300 person lecture, I took my FIG leaders advice sat in the front and attempted to participate, and it was one of the best decisions I have made thus far. The only downside was that it set the bar high for the professors to follow (and TAs.. Shoutout to Carter).
As I got more comfortable voicing my thoughts in front of so many people in a class that deals with some emotionally charged topics, I simultaneously began to broaden my view about the world. I often think back to this class as really solidifying my passion for social justice and positive change. I’m sitting here two years later and SOC 270 still sits atop of the list as one of my favorite courses so far.
Besides the intriguing material, the experience was what it was in part because of Professor Harris herself. I think many professors are so smart and intellectually inclined that they sometimes lack in the talent of talking to “real people.” However, Professor Harris was real. Like when she had us analyze 2pac’s ‘Changes’ in class, it wasn’t like she was trying to be “cool,” it wasn’t an act, she knew what she was doing. She had the perfect balance between introducing material and the ability to make us understand it’s relevance.. even when discussing topics from decades ago. I think a major issue professors have is being able to bring relevance to what they teach and therefore things don’t stick, and we end up just regurgitating piles of information that we see as simply useful to pass a class. But SOC 270 did not have that problem.
With all of that said, the most important encounter I had with Professor Harris, was when I gained the courage to go office hours. I didn’t really have a question, I just felt like I needed to go and say something.. anything. We ended up talking about sociology and the things we went over in class and similar experiences and how my service learning with Dream Project fit in with the material and just everything. At that point she was the reason I almost took up sociology as a second major but I thought I was just in lust with the course. Long story short, I regret not taking that gut feeling more seriously. But I think the one thing I took away from that meeting was when we were finishing up on our talk about grad school and how I was looking at UCLA which was where she happened to do her graduate studies, and she said to me as I was about to leave “if you ever need anything let me know, I’ll be here.”And I genuinely believed her and in a scary new place that really struck a chord with me. I wish I could expand on that, but I can’t.
She a good person. And I say that with the utmost sincerity. That’s why when I found out about her current circumstances I was just taken aback because something so terrible could happen to someone doing such good in the world. (Here’s her website with some general information about her and some of her work)
And in true Alexes Harris fashion she has turned her situation into a chance to educate, spread awareness and help others. As she searches for a donor it has been brought to her attention how difficult that can be as a POC or person of a mixed race origin. So she has had some help setting up a national bone marrow donation registry campaign, to help raise awareness and help people like her. This is how she wants to “make [her] cancer matter."
I guess the point of this is to give credit where credit is due. She is a Wife, Mother, Teacher, and in other words Superhero. Even in such a situation, she finds it in her heart to be about something bigger than herself. So please visit her website, get educated and educate and become a donor.
Much Love.
Mi
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