She dreamed of space and being able to one day study the stars. The same girl read every astronomy book in her school's library, and then went on to read all the books in the town library. When that wasn’t enough she read the academic journals, took time with her teachers to learn so much more and dedicated her time so she could study it in college.
But all the changed when a professor slammed a door in that girls face. Said she couldn’t. Go study something else. This isn’t for a women.
Yes, as you probably guessed, I’m that little girl. I had my dreams crushed by a professor who wouldn’t let me succeed because I’m a women. But don’t worry, the guy who cheated off my test got to be the research assistant.
I fought. I fought with everything I had. I went to every faculty member I could but all I heard was “doesn’t sound like him” “gosh that sucks, nothing to do now” “he’s right”. No one cared, no one took the time to listen. Hell, the higher ups couldn’t even both showing up to the scheduled meetings I had. I continued to fight. I tried taking the classes from different professors but no one would let me in. They already spoke to the first one, why would they let an idiot women do this when the ideal male candidate was right there.
I tried to transfer but I just couldn’t afford it. I was stuck and felt so alone in this fight.
I write this in my senior year now full of so much regret. I wish I could tell my 18 year old self she wasn’t alone in this fight. And I don’t want any other little girl to go through this so I’m telling you all fight. Fight for every women who has been turned down because “a women isn’t smart enough for that”. Fight not just for the little girls who dream to go to space, but for the girls who dream to fix cars, the girls who dream to work with electricity, the girls who dream to get their MBA, the girls who dream.