I have never been afraid to ask questions. When I was little I asked why the sky was blue. I asked why it rains. I asked how cars worked. From the time I learned how to talk, I was an endless source of hows and whys. The world was new to me and I wanted to know everything.
Naturally, I asked the smartest people I knew. I have never been afraid to ask my parents any question, big or small, my mind could fathom. If they didn't know, they said so. They didn't get angry. They didn't lie about it. They didn't dodge the question. They told me they didn't know and where to find the answer.
Their approach to my questions is probably why I have a book about beekeeping and a world atlas in my room at home. I also happen to have a book on weather and another on civil rights during the 1960’s. Our house was a true safe space when it came to learning. No topic was off limits and new, opposing ideas were welcomed.
I was a smart girl and that can be somewhat of a challenge. Neither one of my parents ever made my curiosity feel like it was a burden. They made me feel safe enough to ask the questions I wanted to ask. They made it feel normal to want to ask those questions. They made me feel capable of continuing to learn throughout my life.
I started asking questions with my parents. Now I am asking questions in lecture halls and town halls. I did not think twice with my parents and I don’t think twice now. I was very fortunate to grow up in a household that values education, but most girls in the world do not. Massive amounts of talents goes untapped simply due to under education.
There are many girls in the world who are denied access to education entirely because of their gender. A whopping two thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women. Some are unable to attend to school because it is against the law. Others do not attend because of family factors. Whatever the reason, there are millions of women and girls the world over that are not getting the education they deserve, only because they are female.
This is not acceptable. Women and girls all over the world deserve the chance to create a better life for themselves and that starts with an accessible education.
