Full confession: I spent much of this weekend binge-watching season 5 of Queer Eye. After weeks of responding to the horrors of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor and weeks of listening to the alleged conspiracy that is Covid-19, my soul needed a break. I needed to be reminded of the goodness in this world. I relished watching Jonathan Van Ness's continued attempts to figure skate (on carpet), marveling at the height of Tan France's hair (doesn't it keep getting higher each season?), sharing Antoni Porowski's love of dogs (although corgis don't top MY list), seeing the latest matches Bobby Berk has found to wear as tops and bottoms (where does he find so many matching patterns?) and reading the inspirational messages on Karamo Brown's T-shirts (if only we all followed their teachings). I found myself laughing. I found myself crying. I found myself researching what happened to each of their makeover friends after the show. I was totally invested.
This season, I found myself drawn to Bobby more than I have been before. After reflecting on what prompted this change, I realized that it comes down to how Bobby draws upon the stories of his life to connect to the Fab Five's new friends. Whether it's through sharing his own painful religious experiences with Episode 1's guest Pastor Noah Hepler, confiding in Episode 4's Tyreek Wanamaker who, like Bobby, experienced periods of homelessness, providing insights into what it's like to be married to a medical student for Episode 9's Lilly Yi, or sharing the lessons he's learned about starting his own business with friends like Rahanna Gray in Episode 2 or Nate McIntyre in Episode 10, Bobby leverages his own story to connect with people who on the surface appear to be nothing like him. It is through sharing stories that we create empathy.
This isn't a new revelation. I've always been interested in stories and how they help us understand the human condition--I was (and in my heart still am) an English teacher. Yet watching Queer Eye served as a reminder of just how powerful everyone's stories are. So today--a full day after I finished Season 5--I am sitting here reflecting upon how to make story more integral to my teaching. How can I center stories at the heart of every lesson? How can I use story to help my students this fall understand who they are and why they do what they do? How can I use story to instill deeper understandings than numbers and facts and figures can? How can WE use story to change the world that desperately needs changing? I think some of the resources and challenges shared on this site are a start, but that's all they are--the beginning of a narrative that needs to be developed more fully. How do you see using story to create change in your teaching, your students, the world?
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