Dr. Marielle Bouquet

And I really do think that there is space to be able to hold both truths.

Someone could have not healed because they didn't have the tools or the motivation.

And, you know, there is a space to really allow that to be true and for us to still, you know, kind of be in community and in connection with the people in our lives.

Yeah.

You know, that was like a moment in my life when I was really confronted with how different I was, right?

Coming from a background where my life looks so different.

I, you know, come from Dominican Republic and then I lived in Newark, New Jersey, a very, you know, economically impoverished part of the U.S.

And so all of that was a part of my initial formation.

And I come into this very elite Ivy League institution, you know, working with so many people that just were so different than me.

And a lot of those people were also, you know, I think not super aware of their impact and of the ways in which their statements around my background were heard.

harmful and hurtful and alienating.

And so it was a moment in my life when I was really able to see, wow, I'm seen as someone that's different and potentially even not up to par for some folks, right?

So it was really, really hurtful to experience that.

And I remember wanting to quit.

I remember not wanting to continue because I felt like, how could I exist in this space for six years and

and survive, right?

Emotionally, I don't think I can do it.

This feels traumatic for me.

In that moment, I spoke to my mother.

And like I mentioned, my mother comes with many flaws.