In my short time here at UCLA, most of my classes have been taught by women who have taught me so much about myself and about the industry that I want to go into. In every class I have taken that has been taught by a woman, I have been able to connect with my teacher and fully engage in the material she is teaching. This is not to say that I was not engaged in classes taught by men, but there is something so powerful about seeing a woman teach a whole class.
As an English major who has taken her fair share of classes, something that has been talked about is how uncommon it is to find a woman scholar of English. Being a woman scholar in any field is not common in general, but we now live in a time where women are trying to change that. When I see that the woman in front of me has a Ph.D and loves what she is doing, it makes me want to pursue my dreams. Although my dreams are not necessarily to become a professor or to get a Ph.D, the fact that these women are doing what they love is empowering enough. They have taken their lives into their own hands, and that is something that I want to do, something that so many women strive to do.
This quarter, two of the classes I am taking are taught by women and it is so nice to hear them speak unapologetically about gender issues. It is refreshing to see other women in the field publish new, groundbreaking work. Not only that, but to then hear other women in the class talk about the work that they want to do is always so much fun. When I think about my future, I am scared about what is to come. I know so many people think the same thing about their futures, but a major thing that makes those fears go away is the empowerment I feel when those women professors that tell me that I will go far in my future. When I see in their eyes that they believe in me, I feel comforted and know that I can chase my dreams both in school and outside of it.