Aoife recounts their experiences splitting time between New York City and a more suburban Connecticut setting as a child. They describe navigating their queer identity through high school and coming to terms with their trans identity as a first-generation student at a “historically women’s college,” where texts by authors like Audre Lorde, bell hooks, and Madeline Davis helped shape their political identity. Aoife was also involved as an interviewer for the NYC Trans Oral History Project, an experience that helped foster intergenerational relationships with trans elders. Aoife describes the importance of these relationships, as well as their encounters with queer nightlife and education outside of the institutional context.