Megan Lopez
MSc Gender, Development, and Globalisation 2017
Name: Megan Lopez
Programme and year: MSc Gender, Development, and Globalisation 2017
What are you currently doing and where?
I work for Nevada's largest domestic and sexual violence victim service provider, SafeNest, as the Vice President of One Safe Place. As VP, I am heading and overseeing the development of One Safe Place, which will be a brand new Family Justice Center (FJC) located here in Las Vegas. FJCs are meant to be one-stop-shops for victims of interpersonal violence to receive all the help and support they'll need to achieve safety, healing, and hope. As such, I'm in charge of leading our Steering Committee, the multiple working groups coming out of that Steering Committee, and develop all the policies, procedures, and programming that will take place at One Safe Place, including counseling, advocacy, applications for protective orders, a medical clinic, food pantry, support groups, and even services for abusive partners.
Why did you choose to study gender at LSE?
I wanted to get the best possible social sciences education I could, and there was simply no competition when LSE's acceptance letter came to my inbox. Especially given that LSE had an entire department dedicated to gender studies, I knew that this would be the best place to expand my knowledge and grow my professional and academic skills in order to continue to work in the field of gender-based and interpersonal violence. Additionally, given its location in London, such an international city, I knew I would get to meet people from all over the world, build meaningful and lasting relationships, and broaden my ideas about work in the interpersonal violence field to include international perspectives.
How do you use what you learned at LSE Gender in your current role? Have there been any unexpected uses or applications of your gender expertise?
Every day, in everything I do, I think of centering the voices and needs of the marginalized and oppressed. I think about the different ways that violence shows up in my field, and not just physical violence perpetrated by abusers but the violence perpetrated by the state, by service providers, and by everyday people and the ways these types of violence impact victims', children's, and families' abilities to achieve safety and mitigate the effects of the violence suffered at the hands of the individual abuser. I think of my readings all the time, and keep my textbooks in my office for when I need to reference them.
What advice do you have for current and/or prospective LSE Gender students?
Build relationships with your professors. They're there to help and genuinely care about you, your wellbeing, and your progress and performance in the course. Likewise, build relationships with your classmates. I still remain in regular touch with so many of my classmates, and I love that no matter where I go in the world, I typically have someone from my time at LSE to connect with and visit. Truly, some of my closes and most meaningful friendships are with my former classmates.
Is there a particular highlight about your time at LSE Gender you would like to share?
When I took Sumi's GI402 course, I was so overwhelmed with how much I didn't know that in the 3rd or 4th week of class I sat in the back of the classroom and silently cried into my hands because I felt I didn't understand anything and felt completely out of my league surrounded by such brilliant students and such an incredible professor. I wrote to Sumi and explained my situation and that I felt I might need to drop the class although I didn't want to. Sumi was so gracious and kind and encouraged me not to drop it, gave me guidance on how to prepare for the classes and what to do while studying and doing our readings, and told me to come speak to her if I ever needed to. I stayed in the course and worked harder than I ever have in any other course in my life. By the end of the year, I was participating more and the class discussions and felt like I was really making great progress. One afternoon I happened to be walking out of the GI offices with Sumi and she told me that she had noticed my progress and was very proud of me. Those words of encouragement meant so much to me and I have never forgotten them. More than any other course I've ever taken, that class changed my life. I've never been the same since.