On Being a Woman and Having a Career

This afternoon, I watched Emma Watson's speech to the UN about gender equality. I don't usually discuss such serious topics here, but I feel very strongly about this one.

Ever since I was a little girl, I've had an intensity and drive to achieve things that made me feel distinctly different. School has always been "my thing" and my fifth grade teacher still to this day jokes around with me about how I would take notes in her class. It wasn't until my senior year of high school that I would discover my passion for medicine and choose to become a doctor. As a freshman in college, I daily questioned if I was smart enough to become a doctor. I took classes that challenged me and constantly required me to push myself. I met each challenge and was rewarded for my hard work, but I never felt confident that I was smart enough. I remember sophomore year distinctly well  because it was a defining time in my path to medicine. I was one of the officers of my school's Pre-Health Society, and we were having a meeting about choosing what area of healthcare to enter. The question that seemed to plague many of the girls was whether they could balance a career in medicine with having a family. I remember struggling with that question myself. I called home numerous times to talk to my parents about it. As much as it meant to have my mom's continuous encouragement, I have to say that what influenced my decision more was having a father who believed that I was capable of doing great things as a doctor. He recognized that my talents and abilities would allow me to be just as good a doctor as the guys in my class. Both my parents could see that from the time I was little, before anyone had influenced my idea of what it means to be a woman, I was wired to pursue a challenging career. I've also been blessed to have a husband who celebrates who I am as well. He encourages and supports me in whatever I do. He isn't intimidated by my intensity and he doesn't doubt my abilities. I am truly blessed because I live a life in which I can pursue my passion to have a career while still embracing my femininity and desire to have a family someday.

But many, many other women aren't so privileged. I volunteer at a clinic for refugees in which female genital mutilation is commonplace. Mental health screening of female refugees is so important because sadly, many women live as victims of abuse. I go to school in a city in which 33.6% of people live below the poverty level. Domestic violence continues to be a very real problem, especially among those living in poverty. Education is a key tool to escaping poverty and enabling women to create better lives for themselves, but city schools have some of the worst graduation rates with the poorest area high-school having an abysmal 30% graduation rate. When people say that gender equality is no longer an issue, I have to disagree. Maybe its not, for someone like me, who came from a family that encouraged me to base my life and career choices on what I want and not on the role other people believe I should take. It is still an issue for many women.

I guess that's part of the reason I started this blog. I've read fashion and lifestyle blogs since high school because I've always loved the stereotypical "feminine" things like clothes, cooking, decorating, etc, but I rarely saw blogs written by women who were also pursuing careers. I think its important for women to know that they can be leaders as well as wives and mothers. They can love both science and fashion. They can be engineers, computer programers, and CEOs of companies, and the world would benefit from what we have to contribute.