NOTE: This piece is not sponsored. Every letter and every word from here is voluntary.

I started QC Voices thinking that I’d be doing others a service by spreading awareness about a topic that is too frequently left unexplored or discussed. But with the completion of each post, I realized that I was actually the greatest beneficiary of my writing. QC voices has allowed me to unearth so much about myself.

This trait of writing beautifully captures my experience with writing for QC Voices last semester.

Most of us have to write papers or other assignment for school, but with QC Voices, it’s different. Here, I have a place to write without expectations, rigid guidelines, and academic pressures. Reflecting on the last few months, I recall the refuge I found in being able to write about my own experiences without obsessing over how accurate my written reality would turn out. My perspective had its own legitimacy and for the first time in my writing career, I did not have to look elsewhere for authority.

At first, I would second-guess myself so much because I wasn’t accustomed to being the authority and not having to cite someone else to make an assertion. Gradually, I became comfortable with writing about the perspectives that my unique life experiences have birthed.

In this way, QC Voices has given me the opportunity to explore myself with the freedom to talk about what I want by bringing together all the different parts of me that always seemed so incompatible. Here, I have been able to merge my incarceration, my Muslim identity, and my passion for social justice, academia, and medicine.

Ultimately, QC Voices has become that one companion in front of whom I can fully be myself.

Recently, I made a huge change in direction in regards to my career plans and I owe it to my opportunity to write for QC Voices which allowed me to see through my unrestricted writing, what I was truly passionate about. This last transition in particular has allowed me to see QC Voices as transformative.

Featured Image: Quote by Toni Morrison

Credit: https://www.arts.gov/file/toni-morrison-quotejpg