Stirling McDaniel

Hey everyone! I'm Stirling McDaniel, a senior at BASIS Scottsdale, a charter school in Scottsdale, AZ.

I'm really excited to start my senior project at One N Ten, an LGBTQ youth organization. I'll be volunteering at

their Youth Center in Phoenix. If you want to learn more about BASIS's senior project program, 

go to BASIS Scottsdale Class of 2017, or click here for my project proposal.   

Besides blogging each week on my journey at One N Ten, I'll also be writing up an LGBTQ book 

review each week, starting with Middlesex, a book by Jeffrey Eugenides. [EDIT: Middlesex tells the story of

three generations of an inbred Greek family, chronicalling the effect of a mutated gene on intersex

Cal/Calliope, who struggles with his gender identity.]

I'm also very passionate about conservation and the environment, so each week there will be a new extinct

animal featured on the sidebar to the right of my posts. Plus, there are just some really cool

(dead) animals out there, so why not share them with the world?

Outside BASIS, I am a black belt at Scottsdale Martial Arts Center, where I've 

trained in Wado Ryu (and more recently, Goju Ryu) since I was six. I fence through school, write at home, 

and try to sneak cuddles with my cat, Finnegan. (Funny story: We adopted Finns when he was six months old, and

 right away he was my cat and I was his human. Possibly because I'm quiet and he has always been sort of a

grumpy old cat. For eight years Finns slept in my bed (aka he slept on my pillow/face), until I 

noticed that when I woke up in the morning I couldn't breathe too well. My allergies escalated to the point 

where I could no longer spend ten minutes with him without sneezing and coughing repeatedly. Which is

 why I have to sneak cuddles, because my dad tries to protect my lungs from the cat hair. 

Joke's on him, though: a year ago we adopted another cat named Bob 

(he has half a tail, okay - we're not just unoriginal with names).

Bob

Finnegan

Since I've talked about my cats so much, I guess I should talk about my academic interests some more.
I use to want to be a veterinarian, but ultimately I decided against it (also I'm now allergic to cats and dogs).
I don't know for sure what I'm going to do with my life, but I think I want to study Environmental Science 
(or Zoology?) and Political Science (shout-out to Mr. Wells), and be active in conservation efforts. 

I suppose it probably seems strange that my SRP has nothing to do with either of those subjects, 

but I've always had an interest in human rights, especially LGBTQ rights. By volunteering at One N Ten, 

I hope to compile data on the most effective methods of promoting optimistic futures for LGBTQ youth, 

as well as positively affecting the community around me. Come follow me on my journey!

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*sniff*