I don't know if the right term is karma or what, but sometimes I worry that if I say things are going great, that something will fall apart. So it is with a little trepidation that I write this post. Even though I have been plagued with allergies and headaches, this last week has been one of the most joyous in my life. I turned 40 years old, got to see my daughters perform in their piano recitals, take my children, stepchildren, and husband to a beautiful show at a beautiful live theatre, sing in a concert, and attend a surprise party planned by my dear sweet husband where he sang me a song and put together a slide show of pictures and moments of my life and videos of my dear friends. Oh, and the Dean signed my dissertation, officially ending my PhD experience and helping me acheive the highest degree confered in the US Educational System, the Doctorate.
The first woman to earn a PhD in the United States was in 1877. 142 years ago. Which is really awesome considering she did not even have the right to vote at the time! Some of history took a lot longer, with Harvard not admitting women to medical school until 1945, and over in Africa, the first woman to attend graduate school in Ghana happened in 1950. Back here in the United States, it took until 1970 for the University of Virginia to admit women, and military academies did not admit women until 1976. So I do not take this for granted, that I, as a woman, have earned a PhD.
But what is more important is the topic of my research. One young lady that I interviewed, came from a country that still does not believe in the educating of girls. She came to a foster family at the age of 14 being illiterate in any language. She is now double majoring in two of the hard sciences at a University, and is fluent and literate in seven languages. She did this in the span of 4 years. All the hard work I have done, all the experiences that have challenged me, all are simple and little compared to the amazing things this young lady has undertaken and continues to undertake.
In the musical Once on this Island, a favorite of my older sister, an important truth is taught. I have the blessed memory seared in my brain of seeing my precious Leia teach this lesson as the little girl at the end of the show, and say the important words "This is why we tell the story." Research has shown that when we see things on television, mass catastrophies or wars in far off places, we react either with fear or feelings of not being able to do anything. We quickly forget. We do not connect. It is not so with stories. We can all understand and feel the power of a strong story. I may or may not have teared up recently at a superhero movie because of the connection I feel to fictional characters in a story. How much more important that we tell the story, and listen to the story, of those that we are blessed to connect with.
In the grand scheme of things, my story is not that important. I am blessed by my circumstances to have had an abundance of opportunity to aquire education. I am blessed with an abundance of good friends and family. But I wanted to use those opportunites to try and find ways to tell more stories, to highlight more people who we can connect with, root for, and be proud of, even if they are different than we are. So that we can see, when given a chance, a young woman who was called by her family a "nothing girl" can rise to become a scientist who speaks 7 languages. In 2013 a woman in Saudi Arabia can become the first woman in her country to gain a PhD.
I went through many years where I only sang periodically, and I am trying to rectify that. It is somewhat kismet that the weekend concert I sang at culminated with me singing When you Wish Upon a Star.....granted, one needs to do much more than wish to make their dreams come true, but there is something to be said about the need for hope. My friend who came to the United States at 14 had hope that she could have a better life. I think that instilling hope is the main purpose of having wishes and dreams. Over the last few years, I have had several wishes and dreams, some big and some exceedingly small, happen for me. But most of it has had its roots in hope. The rest has been because of the privilege of opportunity. I am grateful for a career that is all about helping people find opportunities. What I want is to try and help everyone see how they can help bring hope to the hopeless, and how we should be ready to tell the stories that need to be told.
Thank you to my husband, family, and friends is just not enough. Karma will bring the hard times again, but this week has been such a breathe of joy and love. When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. This is why we tell the story.
The first woman to earn a PhD in the United States was in 1877. 142 years ago. Which is really awesome considering she did not even have the right to vote at the time! Some of history took a lot longer, with Harvard not admitting women to medical school until 1945, and over in Africa, the first woman to attend graduate school in Ghana happened in 1950. Back here in the United States, it took until 1970 for the University of Virginia to admit women, and military academies did not admit women until 1976. So I do not take this for granted, that I, as a woman, have earned a PhD.
But what is more important is the topic of my research. One young lady that I interviewed, came from a country that still does not believe in the educating of girls. She came to a foster family at the age of 14 being illiterate in any language. She is now double majoring in two of the hard sciences at a University, and is fluent and literate in seven languages. She did this in the span of 4 years. All the hard work I have done, all the experiences that have challenged me, all are simple and little compared to the amazing things this young lady has undertaken and continues to undertake.
In the musical Once on this Island, a favorite of my older sister, an important truth is taught. I have the blessed memory seared in my brain of seeing my precious Leia teach this lesson as the little girl at the end of the show, and say the important words "This is why we tell the story." Research has shown that when we see things on television, mass catastrophies or wars in far off places, we react either with fear or feelings of not being able to do anything. We quickly forget. We do not connect. It is not so with stories. We can all understand and feel the power of a strong story. I may or may not have teared up recently at a superhero movie because of the connection I feel to fictional characters in a story. How much more important that we tell the story, and listen to the story, of those that we are blessed to connect with.
In the grand scheme of things, my story is not that important. I am blessed by my circumstances to have had an abundance of opportunity to aquire education. I am blessed with an abundance of good friends and family. But I wanted to use those opportunites to try and find ways to tell more stories, to highlight more people who we can connect with, root for, and be proud of, even if they are different than we are. So that we can see, when given a chance, a young woman who was called by her family a "nothing girl" can rise to become a scientist who speaks 7 languages. In 2013 a woman in Saudi Arabia can become the first woman in her country to gain a PhD.
I went through many years where I only sang periodically, and I am trying to rectify that. It is somewhat kismet that the weekend concert I sang at culminated with me singing When you Wish Upon a Star.....granted, one needs to do much more than wish to make their dreams come true, but there is something to be said about the need for hope. My friend who came to the United States at 14 had hope that she could have a better life. I think that instilling hope is the main purpose of having wishes and dreams. Over the last few years, I have had several wishes and dreams, some big and some exceedingly small, happen for me. But most of it has had its roots in hope. The rest has been because of the privilege of opportunity. I am grateful for a career that is all about helping people find opportunities. What I want is to try and help everyone see how they can help bring hope to the hopeless, and how we should be ready to tell the stories that need to be told.
Thank you to my husband, family, and friends is just not enough. Karma will bring the hard times again, but this week has been such a breathe of joy and love. When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. This is why we tell the story.
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