Werklund undergrad strives to create safe classrooms for LGBTQ youth

When Zac Wierzbicki, a 26 year-old undergraduate student in the Werklund School of Education, came out to his sister and parents eight years ago, he wasn’t sure how his declaration would be received. To his relief, the news went over well, and over the next few years, he told the rest of his extended family.

“Everyone took it pretty well,” he says. “Most said they hadn’t really expected it but loved me regardless. It was really affirming to know that my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents still had my back.”

That sense of support — not just from his family, but also from friends and the people around him — is a large part of why Wierzbicki wants to connect with young people. Wierzbicki cites suicides among LGBTQ youth as a catalyst for his drive to become a teacher. While he has always enjoyed sharing knowledge and knows that he’ll relish his time in the classroom, he says he has found a deeper calling.

“At various points, children my age or younger, described as bright and wonderful, are driven to the point of taking their own lives to escape the hell they endure in their schools,” he explains. “So many are pushed to a point where they feel they have no one to turn to and that they are alone.

“It was never really an option for me to not get involved.”

Personal experience highlights need for better understanding

Wierzbicki says that when he was a student in primary and secondary school, teachers didn’t have an understanding of what LGBTQ students faced in the course of their daily lives. And while he didn't think many of his teachers were homophobic, he only discussed his sexual orientation with one.

In Grade 11, he came out to a teacher in connection to a project. Although she told Wierzbicki that she was glad he trusted her, the teacher then told him how stressful his life was going to be because of his sexuality. “She intended well but after that, I decided I was definitely not telling any other adults,” he says.

“Your friends, whether you have friends, their attitudes, their parent’s attitudes, the school culture, the local culture, your home life — all of these and more contribute to a non-standard experience that can sit entirely outside of most people’s awareness.”

About five years ago, around the time the It Gets Better campaign started to share positive messages with LGBTQ youth to get beyond their teen years, Wierzbicki realized he wanted to become a teacher.

He felt his career choice would present the opportunity to support alienated students. “I could enter that space and work to create classrooms, pedagogy, and a space where being a little different is not tantamount to a death sentence.”

Building bridges with GSAs and university groups

When Wierzbicki attended high school, there weren’t many Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs), student-run clubs which provide a safe space for interested students to come together, to create a welcoming environment for all. In fact, there wasn’t one at his school. So he’s excited to learn that things have since changed.

Recently, Wierzbicki was invited back to his school to attend a GSA roundtable meeting to get a sense of their organization. He was given the opportunity to meet the students organizing it at the time and he was amazed by them.

“They become leaders, they organize events, they support each other, and they develop a tremendous resilience,” he says.

Wierzbicki says the University of Calgary offers a lot of key resources to new students. Two groups, Queers on Campus and the Q Centre, offer students opportunities to build positive relationships and networks to be actively engaged in the community.

Working with Queers on Campus, Wierzbicki believes one of his greatest achievements has been connecting the university to the community by creating ties with a dozen or more groups. “There are many fantastic people involved, and what needs we cannot address ourselves, we have a wealth of resources to draw upon in the greater community.”

Speaking from his personal experiences within the Werklund School of Education, Wierzbicki says personal and professional role models he has encountered while in the education program are nurturing socially conscious teachers.