Bekah Hawley has taken her place in the UNH community seriously, participating in a number of organizations.
If you’re involved on campus, you’ve probably met Bekah Hawley. She’s an activist of all trades, dabbling in more activities and clubs than even she could fit into one sentence. She’s warm, enthusiastic and actively looking for more ways to understand and question the world around her. And she wants to inspire her peers to question society, too.
“My absolute passion is trying to get people to think of things in a new way,” Hawley said. “My passion is trying to get people to question their boundaries and see things from a different perspective, because, especially in this day and age, it’s easy to put blinders on.”
Hawley was born in New Jersey, but moved to Derry, N.H., at age nine with her mother, Diane, her father, Curt, and her younger sister, Rachel. With New York City less than an hour away from New Jersey, Hawley said she remembers growing up in a diverse, suburban area, where her neighbors strongly identified with their unique cultural heritage.
But Derry was where Hawley cites first recognizing what she refers to as “homogenized whiteness.” No longer did her neighbors identify strongly with religion, culture or ethnicity, something that a nine-year-old Hawley missed.
“When I was younger I didn’t have words for it, obviously,” Hawley said. “But as I grew older I sort of came to realize that the New England area is very deep in the idea of homogenized whiteness, that white people don’t have an ethnicity and different cultural experiences, which is very sad because it allows for more of a group thinking mentality and it doesn’t allow people to celebrate their own specific heritage.”
Also at age nine, Hawley first started questioning her sexuality. Hawley was sitting up late one night after her parents and sibling went to bed. While watching TV, she saw a lesbian couple and thought about how nice it would be to be in that kind of relationship. This single thought, according to Hawley, would dramatically affect her mood and state of mind for the upcoming years until she finally came out to a friend her freshman year in high school.
“When I was in middle school I didn’t really deal with it,” Hawley said. “I was depressed a lot, and I had a close group of friends but I didn’t really talk to them much either. I was just very alone.”
Hawley first came out as questioning, though this would later switch to bisexual, then lesbian, then queer, a process that Hawley stresses is a natural and normal part of celebrating and embracing one’s identity.
I loved to stay at home in my summer vacations. But I want to say that you have good lists that we can do in our summer. I definitely try some of these whenever I go for my summer break. Thank you for sharing such a brilliant idea I’ll have fun trying this.
As a wildlife ecology student I took issue with a specific paragraph in this article: "It is important that we remember that oil is a natural substance as well. It’s not like we dumped a couple million gallons of diesel fuel in the ocean…this stuff actually came from the depths of the ocean. That is not to downgrade the effect this spill will have on the Gulf of Mexico. Instead I just mean to say it will eventually be corrected by a long-lasting cleanup presence in the area." Yes, crude oil is a natural substance, but that doesn't make it any less toxic to ecosystems. I might remind you that uranium and lead are natural substances too. Also, crude oil is a substance that is naturally sealed underground for millions of years. It was humans who unleashed it. If oil spills occurred naturally ecosystems might have evolved ways of dealing with them. But they aren't natural occurrences. The only way the ecosystem will recover is with lots of elbow grease and Dawn dish soap. Don't downplay the ecological impact of an oil spill just because oil is "a natural substance". Every poison we've ever come up with had to come from nature in some form.
I love being outside during the summer! We stay around my pool or on a beach somewhere under an umbrella, enjoying a fruity, frozen drink. Thanks for the suggestions. I will definately be adding some of these to my yearly summer activities. I like to cram everything I can into the few short months of freedom that I have before I jump back into the semester.
I started the list in '81 while at NH Technical College. Been a peak bagger ever since. What a great way to spend a Saturday. While making plans for your next hike, check out TrailsNH.com for current trail conditions and more reliant info.
 "Photo: Amanda Beland")
 "Photo: Amanda Beland")
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