Two weeks ago, on International Women’s Day, I couldn’t help but smile while looking at my Facebook and Instagram feeds. While scrolling endlessly through memes, political news and cooking videos is great, seeing all the female power my friends (both women AND men!) were posting about on their social media was a refreshing change. It also made me reflect about how I wanted to celebrate International Women’s Day this year.
Nearly one year ago, I graduated from an all-girls high school in Baltimore, MD alongside 79 other amazing young women. Included in that group of women are an app developer, an engineer with an award named after her at Baltimore’s famous Engineer’s Club, a digital artist with exhibits in New York City and many, many more accomplished individuals – who continue to inspire me, even from afar.
IWD made me appreciate my all-girls education. While I acknowledge that a single-sex setting isn’t for everyone, I think it benefitted me greatly. I was able to form bonds with many powerful female role models – many of whom inspired me to become a teacher. In addition, I also learned a lot about the importance of women’s rights and why equality matters so much.
Even though I happily attend a co-ed college now, I’ll always be thankful for all of the good times and lessons learned at my all-girls school.