In seventh grade, I was in my humanities class talking to my teacher about an assignment, and a boy came up to the teacher and tried to interrupt me while I was speaking to her. When I stopped him and politely asked if I could finish speaking, he called me a h*e and ran out of the classroom.

I grew up overweight as a multicultural girl. As a result, I had a lot of animosity toward my body and my weight that I never properly solved until I really worked on self love. A lot of times, women- especially women of color- are screwed over in the medicine industry. Our health is reduced to a weight problem without acknowledging our ethnicity, cultural diet, and doctors gender bias. Learning about my cultural identity as well as how weight presents on a woman, really improved my self-esteem and understanding. Our pain is often not taken seriously in the medicine world. For example, I went to the doctor- a male- for pain in my wrist, and it was written off as pain that would simply go away. Still I scheduled an MRI (which I haven’t done yet) and my wrist pain has continued for months. As a result, I am currently wearing a brace until I can get the MRI and understand what is truly wrong. Education on the subject of health is essential for women as we are living in a society that isn’t made for us. Our bodies don’t work on a 24 hour cycle which mens do. We have to work on a hormone cycle that goes against our body and function day-to-day. Learning about my body and my health as well as my ethnicity as a mixed woman opened my eyes; and made me begin to understand how to help my own body.

I think that fact that I have a female pediatrician has made my experience with physical health really great. My doctor is very well versed in women health issues and has given great advice in regards to birth control, period health, and other facets a male doctor may not be able to understand.

Growing up, I have always been shy and reserved. In elementary school I often had many ideas in my head but refrained from participating in class. I was like by my teachers because I was quiet and respectful. In groups, I was often paired with the louder boys, being an “easier” child. Additionally, there was a big ratio of girls to boys in my grade, with there being few girls. My parents and I felt that I was often looked past in school and had a lot of distractions. I decided, with the advice of my parents, to go to an all girls school for middle and high school. I feel I have finally come out of my shell and been able to find my voice at my school. My school’s emphasis on the importance of girls’ education is empowering and inspiring. Today, I am outgoing, curious and have a love for learning!

In my culture, there isn’t blatant discrimination against women as there was in the past due to the changing times. However, there has remained a discrepancy in female representation and male representation in specific professions, such as in the medical or law fields. In Korean culture, mainly men take on these professions, and women are discouraged from pursuing higher education such as a master’s or a pHD because these educations are male-dominated. I recently did a program from Perry Initiative, which empowers women and encourages them to go into medicine, engineering, or orthopedic surgery. This experience made me realize that women are still struggling with being adequately represented in certain fields.

As a female student, I have never felt uncomfortable or silenced in any of my academic environments. As I pursue business and enter a more male-dominated field, I hope to remember and look back at what has helped me stay focused and grounded during my academic career.