{"id":19105,"date":"2015-11-19T11:37:59","date_gmt":"2015-11-19T16:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/?p=19105"},"modified":"2015-11-20T14:38:38","modified_gmt":"2015-11-20T19:38:38","slug":"voice-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/","title":{"rendered":"Voice Lessons"},"content":{"rendered":"

For years, Avina Ross pictured herself as a psychologist. She’d imagined leaning back in her overstuffed chair and scratching notes as her clients confided their deepest of secrets.<\/p>

“I could see myself in New York in my stiletto heels,” said Ross, 33, always the consummate comforter in her group of girlfriends. “I was going to take on the big city and its troubles.”<\/p>

College threw curveballs. A friend who needed a favor. A life-changing internship. A new major that helped her explain how she saw the world. She’d spend the next several years working alongside survivors who used their own voices to give awareness and support. Now, as UMW’s first sexual assault and prevention specialist, Ross is blazing a trail from her Combs Hall office, hoping students will use it to find the help that they need.<\/p>

“It isn’t a new problem,” she said of the heightened awareness of sexual assault on college campuses, “but we need innovative, substantive and culturally relevant ways to address it.”<\/p>

\"Avina<\/a><\/p>

Born on an Air Force base in England, Ross moved around with her family, finally landing in Virginia’s Hampton Roads area. She studied cosmetology in high school and worked for a while as a hair stylist. But she wanted more.<\/p>

She enrolled at Old Dominion University, still set on psychology, but soon learned it wasn’t the best fit for her. Grudgingly, she signed up for a sociology class. A passionate professor and dynamic discussion on child welfare won her over the first day, reeling her into concepts like intersecting oppressions, and social construction and welfare.<\/p>

When she transferred to the College of William and Mary, a classmate confided in her and asked for a favor. She’d survived childhood rape, she told Ross, and she wanted Ross to intern with her – for emotional support – at the Center for Sexual Assault Survivors. Ross followed that internship with another at RAINN, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.<\/p>

“I would sit at my computer and tear up during some sessions,” she said of her stint as the group’s research and online hotline intern. “As an advocate, you sometimes work through the pain and remain strong with the folks you’re trying to help.”<\/p>

She stuck with it, earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology and women’s studies, and returning to William and Mary to help update its sexual assault curriculum and train peer advocates. She’s worked with survivors of interpersonal violence on all levels, providing case management, housing assistance, advocacy and support. She even spent a while in the medical examiner’s office, helping teams evaluate their response to fatalities.<\/p>

“It was one of the best jobs I’ve ever had, but it’s emotionally draining,” Ross said. “You’re taking these sad outcomes and looking at them from an honest place. What could we have done differently? What can we do differently next time?”<\/p>

Along the way, she learned to practice “self-care,” relying on her spirituality, and family and friends, to cope with her sensitive work.<\/p>

She found fulfillment in the classroom, too, as an adjunct professor, said Ross, who earned a master’s degree in sociology from VCU. She’s also finishing a Ph.D. in social work there; her dissertation examines the portrayal of interpersonal violence against black women in contemporary film.<\/p>

“She’s worked on campus and off; she’s studied sexual assault and prevention, women’s issues and gender-neutral issues,” said Leah Cox, UMW’s Title IX coordinator and special assistant to the president for diversity and inclusion. “She’s easy to talk to but willing to stand up and be an advocate when needed. We get a lot in one package.”<\/p>

On board since September, Ross will partner with Cox to conduct a campus-wide survey on sexual assault, educate students to support one another, launch a peer advocacy group and, hopefully, make UMW a little bit safer.<\/p>

“I have an open-door policy,” Ross said. “I’m willing to listen, to provide comfort and advocacy. I’m here to help.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New sexual assault and prevention specialist helps victims speak up<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":19106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,81],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-show","8":"category-umw-home","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVoice Lessons - Great Minds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/19\\\/voice-lessons\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/19\\\/voice-lessons\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eab3b9dd084c2488474792f0c391b8e7\"},\"headline\":\"Voice Lessons\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-19T16:37:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-11-20T19:38:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/19\\\/voice-lessons\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":679,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/19\\\/voice-lessons\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/Avina_HP.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Show on Great Minds\",\"UMW Home Page\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/19\\\/voice-lessons\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/19\\\/voice-lessons\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/19\\\/voice-lessons\\\/\",\"name\":\"Voice Lessons - Great Minds\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/19\\\/voice-lessons\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/19\\\/voice-lessons\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/Avina_HP.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-19T16:37:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-11-20T19:38:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eab3b9dd084c2488474792f0c391b8e7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/19\\\/voice-lessons\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/19\\\/voice-lessons\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/19\\\/voice-lessons\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/Avina_HP.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/Avina_HP.jpg\",\"width\":2280,\"height\":920,\"caption\":\"Avina Ross\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/19\\\/voice-lessons\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Voice Lessons\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/\",\"name\":\"Great Minds\",\"description\":\"University of Mary Washington\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eab3b9dd084c2488474792f0c391b8e7\",\"name\":\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8cd48e50ced07a667a7ccc2683e7c499bbc79a10e20d4fab04d100cc5ccae276?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8cd48e50ced07a667a7ccc2683e7c499bbc79a10e20d4fab04d100cc5ccae276?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8cd48e50ced07a667a7ccc2683e7c499bbc79a10e20d4fab04d100cc5ccae276?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/author\\\/lchinn\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Voice Lessons - Great Minds","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lisa Chinn Marvashti","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/"},"author":{"name":"Lisa Chinn Marvashti","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#\/schema\/person\/eab3b9dd084c2488474792f0c391b8e7"},"headline":"Voice Lessons","datePublished":"2015-11-19T16:37:59+00:00","dateModified":"2015-11-20T19:38:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/"},"wordCount":679,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/11\/Avina_HP.jpg","articleSection":["Show on Great Minds","UMW Home Page"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/","name":"Voice Lessons - Great Minds","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/11\/Avina_HP.jpg","datePublished":"2015-11-19T16:37:59+00:00","dateModified":"2015-11-20T19:38:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#\/schema\/person\/eab3b9dd084c2488474792f0c391b8e7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/11\/Avina_HP.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/11\/Avina_HP.jpg","width":2280,"height":920,"caption":"Avina Ross"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/11\/19\/voice-lessons\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Voice Lessons"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/","name":"Great Minds","description":"University of Mary Washington","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#\/schema\/person\/eab3b9dd084c2488474792f0c391b8e7","name":"Lisa Chinn Marvashti","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cd48e50ced07a667a7ccc2683e7c499bbc79a10e20d4fab04d100cc5ccae276?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cd48e50ced07a667a7ccc2683e7c499bbc79a10e20d4fab04d100cc5ccae276?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cd48e50ced07a667a7ccc2683e7c499bbc79a10e20d4fab04d100cc5ccae276?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lisa Chinn Marvashti"},"url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/author\/lchinn\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/11\/Avina_HP.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}