Lara Marie Edmonds

UConn School of Social Work, Class of 2017

I grew up in Branford, CT, a suburb of New Haven. Branford was not an incredibly racially diverse town, although there was some diversity in terms of economic status, ethnicity, politics, and religion. I do often feel like I grew up in something of a bubble, although I was raised by a reasonably progressive dad and a nearly radical feminist mother, which broadened my worldview.

I have also had the privilege to be a part of more diverse communities in my lifetime. I spent three years teaching in DC Public Schools in a 6-12th grade education campus of 1,300 students in Columbia Heights, in northwest Washington, DC. While DC Public Schools as a whole is 98% African American, our students were 65% Latino and 80% of our students were English Language Learners.

The community where I spent the majority of my childhood absolutely shaped me, but the time I spent living and working in Columbia Heights also drastically affected the ways in which I view the world.