I believe that a strong and good community plays a crucial role in where a person ends up. Being part of a supportive community provides people with the resources and encouragement needed to grow. I come from a predominantly Middle Eastern and South Asian community. My community provides me with so many opportunities and I am so thankful to be a part of a community that not only accepts me but embraces me and my background. With that being said, every community has needs and one of the most pressing needs in my community is the need for greater advocacy for women’s education.

     In Middle Eastern and South Asian culture, it is common for women to not go to college because it is something that isn’t encouraged as much. In our community, they have placed very traditional roles and standards in place where sometimes you are seen differently if you do not settle down and have kids as a woman. From a young age, girls are encouraged to learn household chores like cooking and cleaning rather than focusing on school and getting good grades. This is why I say we need greater advocacy for women’s education. By advocating this to all the women in my community no matter their age, it’ll push them to pursue education more. This will give them the opportunities and ambitions I have for learning and maybe even result in them joining the 20/20 Leadership program as well.

     From a young age, I have always been passionate about education. Growing up in a first-generation immigrant household where I am striving to be the first woman in my family to attend college after my mom made many sacrifices for me, which also meant giving up her opportunity to pursue college, makes me believe that education is something that can be used as an empowering tool and that everyone should be encouraged for it. When you pursue education, you also pursue being a leader and personal development. Unfortunately, many women in my community are still not encouraged to go for higher education. This is why I believe it is urgent to start actively advocating for women’s education in my community. By doing this, I hope that women realize that they can do more than the societal rules and expectations within their community.

     After high school, I plan to attend a four-year college and get my bachelor’s in biology and a minor in women’s studies. Getting my bachelors in biology and going into the anesthesia field has always been a dream of mine. Being able to help people who need medical attention is one of my biggest goals. I also want to get a minor in women’s studies. It will help me with my work in the healthcare field by being able to understand the specific challenges women have to go through and what I can offer them when it comes to healthcare. Women are often underrepresented and not fully cared for when it comes to their health and I want to be able to change that with the help of my degree. I also would like to eventually go back to school to get my master’s and maybe even my doctorate later on in life.

     My future education will help impact greater advocacy for women’s education within my community by trying to be a role model and a leader to the people in my community. I want to be someone they can look up to, and continuing my future education would show them they can. By being able to further my education, I will be able to study how women’s health and education are related and how women are sometimes prevented from achieving their true potential because of societal standards in their community. This will help me gain enough knowledge to where I can be a voice for these women and be the one advocating for change in my community when it comes to women’s education. I hope to inspire a cultural shift where women are not just seen as homemakers but as capable individuals who have the right to pursue careers and leadership roles in my community.