Late Start, Right Place

Returning to school was a daunting endeavor. I was in my mid-30s, and I had recently found I had a passion for crafting stories, discovered in a writing class I had taken. I wanted to pursue my new talent, yet uncertainties swirled in my mind. Would I fit in? Would I be the oldest one in class? Could I juggle a job and school? Pushing my fears to the side, I took the plunge, submitted my application, selected my classes and began my college career at San Francico State University, a university renowned for its writing program. 

My fears were eased within a few weeks of class. (Except for the nightmare of being in school naked. That still haunts me.) I wasn’t the oldest student, and I fit right in. The real challenge: I was going to be exhausted for the next several years. All the students were doing the same juggling act: books to read, essays to write, poems to draft and plays to create where each character wanted something the other had. But I knew I could do this. 

It was in my “Business of Creative Writing” class that our professor, Donna de la Perrière, emphasized the importance of building a community of fellow writers who would encourage us and provide constructive feedback for growth. When my grade wasn’t the “A” I wanted, she suggested I should participate more. From that moment forward I asked questions, volunteered to lead workshops, stepped out of my comfort zone and pushed myself to take the lead, to be heard, to participate. I got the “A.” That emphasis on community led to my co-founding Left Coast Theatre Co., an LGBTQ theatre that grew out of a series of weekly writers’ workshops.

During my last year of school, I enrolled in “The Craft of Letter Writing,” a class dedicated to the lost art of correspondence through letters. Through the reading of historical letters, a creative idea was born: What if one wrote letters to the feelings and emotions we all share? It took a few years, but the idea came to fruition with the publication of my memoir, “A life in letters, a story of resilience, sequins and hope.” 

Today, I’m working toward a new goal: establishing an organization dedicated to the mental and emotional health of the LGBTQ community. But the sense of community I found at SFSU continues to shape how — and why — I do what I do.