The Reflection

When I began this project, my main goal was to simply raise awareness about Turner Syndrome. After conducting my survey and realizing that virtually no one has even heard of Turner Syndrome, I found that it is basically the most important issue surrounding the disease. Some could argue that funds need to be increased in order to make people listen, but how can you get more money if there isn't anyone to donate it?

Even further than that, the money isn't even the second largest issue. From the Turner Syndrome Society of the United States website, I noticed that they have an entire section devoted to volunteer work. It ranges from board membership to basic volunteerism and they hold events in a few states, as well as conferences. The problem with the events is that they are scattered throughout the nation. From one in West Michigan to one in Los Angeles, they vary. The hope, for me at least, is that one day they will be in every state and maybe in a few cities in each state.

As far as the activism portion of the project went, I started with the mentality that it was stupid and pointless without the funds to make an actual dent in the knowledge people have of the issue. I couldn't have been more wrong. Despite the fact that my activism didn't push very far past the walls of my residence building, I taught people something. I would talk to my roommate and my boyfriend daily about Turner Syndrome, telling them what I had learned during my research that day. The spark of hope I had was the fact that my roommate knew what it was from her Child Development class, which meant that there were at least 50 people each quarter that were learning about Turner Syndrome. If this hadn't been just a 10-week project, maybe I could have made a plea with the University to make Child Development a general education class for all majors.