Riley Reck

Differences unite us, community keeps us strong.

Hey there everyone! My name is Riley Reck and my pronouns are she/her/they/them. I am a proud queer, low income, first generation college student in my third year here at Sonoma State University studying American multicultural studies and sociology with a minor in women and gender studies where I concentrate on critical race, gender and sexuality theory. I grew up in Sacramento with a huge family of seven in a single parent household. What drove me to college and inspires me to keep pushing every day, is to be able to one day give back to my communities that have helped me grow and learn in unfathomable ways. It’s not only about raising yourself up but giving back.

Since being at SSU I have been involved in a wide variety of community outreach programs available here and in the local area that work to foster community building and help allocate resources to other marginalized students and community members. Some of these organizations are JUMP, Queer Student Alliance, California’s Homemakers Association and United Against Sexual Oppression. Another defining moment in my college career has been being a peer mentor to first year students while they transition from being a high school to college student and the culture shock that is often experienced as a result. In addition to these, I am also an intern at the HUB where I work hand in hand with the Gender and Sexuality Coordinator and other students to facilitate safe zone training in an effort to help inform folks about how to be more inclusive. Being involved in such a wide variety of clubs, organizations and internships has helped me mold my passions and develop different modes of being a leader as well as building a more transformative environment around.

Honestly, I never thought I would graduate high school, much less go to college where I get to explore all of these new ways of existing and world making that I can integrate into all aspects of my life. While college has been challenging in a wide variety of ways that I wasn’t expecting, what has really given me the strength to continue to endure in this life changing journey is the community I have built through the Educational Opportunity Program which has been built into this whole little family. I did not have the “traditional” upbringing, to say the least, which has made being at Sonoma State especially difficult but this in itself has helped unify my community at SSU. Differences unite us, community keeps us strong.