At the Golden Temple in India.
The village women and I in front of their house.
Looking around the quaint, ornate room, I started to feel uneasy about my presence. Young, white girl, sitting on the bed, while elderly, Indian women sit on the floor. I waited patiently for the translator to fill me in on the seemingly personal conversation. Even before the translation was passed along to me, I could sense the fear bouncing off the walls; a collective fear shared and displaced by all the women in the room. When I was finally enlightened through the translator, the situation was just as I had suspected. Experiences of abuse at home, at the factory, and likely, abuse if found talking to us. “But this is our tradition” one of the women said with a smile on her face, hiding the pain behind her sunken eyes, “This is the way it has always been.” Motivated by that statement, the only young Indian girl in the room, about my age, challenges her. She tells her mom and friends that just because this is how it has always been, doesn’t mean it’s the way it should be. I truly believe I am a part of a generation of change-makers. Our generation is going to confront, question, and challenge the way things are, and make strides towards a better future. Through our short time together, these village women in the middle of India opened my eyes and heart to their constrained positions in society. These women felt trapped, and probably still are trapped, in their unfortunate conditions. Their abilities to endure the abuse, to put their children’s future above their own, and to be resilient through it all are admirable. However, I don’t think women should solely endure their circumstances, but rather have power over their own worlds and futures.
Watching the 21-year-old banter back and forth with the older generation is a scene I will never forget. I will never forget parting ways after our short time together and mutually conveying the message that we will stand strong against these oppressive norms, to keep rebelling.
The courageous 21-year-old and I.
I may be an easily inspired individual, but there are few moments I can say that have impacted me more than the exchange with the 21-year-old village girl. This vivid moment is engrained in my mind for a reason as I am realizing more everyday. It is so easy to accept things the way they are, and so much harder to change them. I grew up thinking I could become whomever I wanted. I have no idea who I would be if I had grown up in an environment with incredible expectations and limitations. It deeply inspired me meeting such a courageous, young woman. At 21, she has already experienced abuse in the factory, quit, and is now encouraging others to stand up for their rights as well. She inspired me to think deeper into myself and figure out what I want to stand up for during my life, to find out what is important to me. Through my few worldly experiences, I have realized that global women’s empowerment is important to me, and somewhere along my future life-path.
Generations of women in Vietnam.
My previous trip to Blue Fields, Nicaragua was my first taste of a developing world. For the first time, traditional gender roles were fully fleshed out before my naïve eyes. I locked myself out my first morning there, at a rough 6am, sat in a broken rocking chair, and watched the day unfold and the roles reveal themselves along the way. Intrigued, I started going out and meeting women in the community. I quickly realized there is a special connection women share universally, despite where they are born. After a short four weeks, I was plopped back into the good-ol’ U.S.A with an absurd amount of ungrounded energetic passion. I was changing my passions from one thing to the next, never fully engaging in it, and feeling restless, angsty, and utterly overwhelmed.
The family I observed the day I was locked out of my house in Nicaragua.
This fellowship has given me more than just the gift of education; it has given me the tools to harness my passion to do something with it. Without this fellowship, I would not have fully engaged and challenged my mind, body, and spirit so comprehensively. The combination of being thrown into the chaos of India, walking through garment factories, and later meeting these trapped women in a village, is an inescapable recipe for change. I was able to engage in complex social issues face-to-face, wrestle with the consequential internal struggles that surfaced, and inevitably learn more about myself, and who I want to be in this world. Even further, this fellowship has built my confidence and given me peace inside of myself. Although I still have a lot of passionate energy, it is focused, not scattered, and grounded in education and experience. My internal desire to be a part of something impactful, something that matters, is now aligned with my future vocation. Because of this, I feel more immersed in the present, more content with who I am, and more excited for who I am becoming. My capacity to love and empathize has grown to the point of no return. At this point, I know I will not be able to satisfy my spirit until more women (and men) in this world are given the power to create their futures. This new-founded sense of self came before an important transitional period in my life. I am excited to approach the real world with confidence and focused energy, because I know it will keep bringing me where I need to be.
My young, Nicaraguan friend, Giselle.
I am moving gracefully towards the exciting intersection of global women’s empowerment, innovative entrepreneurship, and science and technology. Although I am moving toward an unreasonably challenging, yet vital intersection of our world, I am moving forward confidently with passion and a purpose. This fellowship marks a pivotal point for my development into the woman I want to be in this world. I feel so blessed that I was able to have these challenging and thought-provoking experiences so young, as well as have supportive mentorship to help understand the meaning of them at this time in my life. I’m excited to discover how else this fellowship will contribute to my future vocation, as the impact of this fellowship will continue to reveal itself to me as I engage in the world. I could not be more thankful for all the opportunities I was given to challenge myself and develop into the passionate, culturally sensitive, impact-obsessed woman I am striving to be in this world.
A woman I met walking through the streets of Vietnam.