Over the past two weeks, I have had opportunities to hear multiple unbelievably inspiring women speak, thanks to Penn State. As a public university, Penn State does an outstanding job at gathering accomplished public figures to present their stories to PSU students. Constantly, there are chances for students to attend presentations or lectures that will help us make progress in fulfilling our life’s aspirations.
Last Tuesday, I attended Jill Biden’s presentation in Eisenhower Auditorium. Prior to the talk, I was unfamiliar with Jill’s work. During her speech, she discussed her experiences as a professor at a community college. She described how many of her immigrant students are some of the most motivated and hardworking individuals she has ever met, even though some of them are homeless and live in cars. Jill emphasized the courage that can be found within women who have children to raise and positions of employment to maintain but who also dream of going to school. On rainy Wednesday, I had a long morning and felt compelled to skip my math lecture. However, I was struck with an overwhelming amount of self-reflection regarding Jill’s speech. It reminded me of my aunt’s journey for higher education, in which she needed to work a full-time job in order to put herself through college and still finished her undergrad in three years. It also reminded me of my parents, who were not afforded the opportunity to attend college at all. Now, after 12 years of banking employment, my mom is unemployed and yearns to go to school. While reflecting on Jill’s words and relating them to my own family, I realized that nowadays, we see the price tag that is attached to an education, but we fail to recognize its innate value. As you can probably guess from where this story is going, I decided to attend my math class.
On Thursday, a campus organization that I am involved with, Schreyer for Women, allowed me the opportunity to hear from the executive director of the Hekima Place, Jenny Roach. The Hekima Place is a home for girls in Kenya that provides life necessities, love, and proper educations. Jenny grew up in Wales, where she was severely bullied and told that she would never amount to anything. Overcoming the hardships of depression, suicidal attempts, and self-doubt, Jenny’s life changed when she visited Kenya and felt at home. She persistently traveled to the country, and eventually was offered a position as one of the executive directors of the Hekima Place. Jenny’s story, along with the heartening tales from my TA, Maddie, has instilled a desire in me to travel to Hekima this May to work with some of the girls there.
This Monday evening, I had the pleasure of listening to the author of It’s What I Do, Lynsey Addario speak in Schwab Auditorium. As you all already know, Penn State Reads is a program that strives to spark intellectual engagement in students, and Lynsey’s book has done just that for me. As demonstrated in my It’s What I DO RCL blog posts, I have a strong admiration of Lynsey and the irreplaceable work that she has completed in such a relatively short lifetime. During her lecture on Monday, Lynsey mentioned how she forgives the men who captured her in Libya and feels cowardly a majority of the time while in these foreign countries. Her prominent sense of humility and respect for others is enlivening and propels me to be an innovator like her.
Jill Biden, Jenny Roach, and Lynsey Addario are all powerful women who have displayed their abilities to change the world. I walked away from each of their talks feeling a stirring going on within me. I have been more excited to tackle my school assignments, journal about my inner insights, and submerge myself in the world around me. Penn State brings inspirational speakers onto campus very frequently, and I implore you all to take advantage of these opportunities when they present themselves.
