My views on gender didn’t change until two things happened. First, I moved away from my hometown and started going to college at UWB. Taking classes here has opened my eyes and mind so much to how the world operates in different locations and the factors behind it. Last year I took a Human Rights and Resistance class which covered the countries in South Asia. That was my first really impactful come-to with gender inequality and how gender inequality has so many negative effects not just on women, but on society as a whole. The second thing that happened was my mom divorced my dad, and she has worked incredibly hard to create a successful career for herself. After not going to college, my mom was given a chance to learn how hospital technology systems work, and was given an opportunity to learn how to teach hospitals these new programs, write teaching materials, and help build the system through software coding.
(The photo I'm including is of my mom and I seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago, where she was working on a project at a medical facility!)