It’s a warm Thursday afternoon when Rachel Kershaw hurriedly makes her way to the picnic table where I sit, waiting to interview her. The meeting was set for 3:30. She walked up at 3:28, apologizing for her tardiness.
I tell her not to worry and that she is on time. She glances at her watch and laughs as she realizes, shaking her head.
“My mom has ingrained it in me that I have to apologize for everything,” she said. “I think that’s something that a lot of girls are taught, and I’m trying to unlearn it. It’s a bad habit.”
Rachel Kershaw is a 20-year-old senior at USF majoring in political science and minoring in women’s and gender studies. She is the president and founder of the National Organization of Women at USF, and more than anything she loves to learn.
“I don’t know if I would have identified as a feminist before college,” she said. “But as soon as I took my first women’s and gender studies class my mind was blown. I have learned, and continue to learn, so much in my classes.”
She describes her upbringing in hometown of Melbourne, Florida, a mostly privileged and conservative area, as being extremely sheltered.
“I came to college and realized this is what diversity looked like,” she said.
It is obvious that Kershaw has a mild distaste for talking about herself, preferring instead to lead conversations back to what she can do to help other women.
When asked about personal discrimination she has faced as a woman that has led her to wanting to create NOW (National Organization of Women) at USF, Kershaw simply shakes her head.
“I’ve been very fortunate,” she said. “Not only am I white, but I grew up living comfortably with parents who were supportive of anything I wanted to pursue. NOW is all about inclusion, since intersectional feminism is so important to me.”
Intersectional feminism, which puts emphasis on the struggles of minority women, is just one example of Kershaw’s clear need to put others first.
“I can’t remember a time when Rachel wasn’t rooting for the underdog,” her mother, Pam Kershaw, explained. “Since she was little she has wanted to help people, and that’s clearer now more than ever in what she studies and wants to do as her career.”
In terms of her career, Kershaw’s dream is to one day be president of Planned Parenthood.
“I want to work for Planned Parenthood as opposed to any particular political leader because Planned Parenthood promotes the overall health and care of women,” she said. “And that idea 100 percent embodies what I support.”
Her roommate, Kathryn, “Kit Kat” Barkley, explained Kershaw’s passion for protecting other women is most clearly exemplified when she volunteers to escort women safely to and from an abortion clinic on Fletcher Avenue.
“I remember she came back to our apartment after her first time volunteering with a terrible sunburn and so many stories about the horrific things the protestors would scream at the women she was escorting,” she said. “I figured she wouldn’t subject herself to hearing that again, and yet she was back the next day.”
Kershaw spoke about her experience at the clinic.
“It’s definitely hard to stomach the things they say,” she said. “But it’s obviously nothing compared to what it must feel like to hear those grotesque things as a woman about to get or just having gotten an abortion. As if that’s not already an emotional enough process.”
And just like that, she is once again managing to bring a question solely about her and her experiences back to the greater good of women.
“She cares so deeply,” her mother explained. “It drives her in everything she does. She’ll call me and educate me on something, and I’ll hang up feeling truly inspired. That’s a rare and lucky thing.”