Anika S.
If you’re reading this, you deserve to feel empowered.
I used to be really shy. Like, really, really shy. I refused to raise my hand in class, and my teachers gave up on calling on me, not wanting to waste their time on my mumbled answers.
But I was far from shy at home. My mom would come back from parent-teacher conferences absolutely shocked that I wasn’t participating enough in class. She was convinced my teachers had me mixed up for another kid who didn’t put on full-scale performances in our living room each night.
Regrettably, it took me a while to realize that I really wasn’t that shy of a person. I was just put in settings that convinced me I was inferior. For some reason, I was convinced all the boys in my advanced-level math and science classes knew better than me. I let them validate that feeling and never pushed back when they singled me out as one of the few women in our classes, making jokes about my intelligence.
It wasn’t until college that I truly realized my worth, even in the male-dominated College of Engineering. I found communities of women so empowering that I felt like someone lit a spark in me. My mom and sister have always been my biggest role models and the most powerful, intelligent, and impressive women I know. I just never realized I could become a woman like that too.
Before I even stepped foot on campus, I was part of the Girl Up Michigan executive board. I was thrilled to be part of a club committed to empowering women, a place where I could be a leader and be heard. As a senior now, it’s safe to say that Girl Up Michigan has changed my life. From the most incredibly kind, talented, and intelligent women, I get to spend time with each week to the most impressive female speaker panels and deep educational conversations at general meetings – Girl Up has time and time again made me feel empowered, and incredibly proud of my identity.
So, if you’re reading this, you deserve to feel empowered. You deserve to know your worth and truly feel the value you bring to the world. You deserve to find uplifting communities that enforce your confidence. And so does every woman across the globe.
Anika S., University of Michigan
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