Today I pause to consider the women who have gone before me to pave the way for me to be able to achieve my goals. If it were not for women and men of incredible strength and perseverance, I would not have been able to attend college, to work in the field of psychological research, to soon train and study towards a graduate degree, etc. I am pursuing a career in which I will make scientific discoveries as well as educate, train, and empower children, their families, their teachers, and their communities. It is my intention to continue to gain the knowledge and skills to make a lasting, positive impact for the lives of the people I interact with both personally and professionally. I am grateful for the women who have gone before me to create precedents for female engagement in my field and others related to it.
I also pause to reflect on the blessing of my wonderful parents, who every day provide an example of a loving partnership within marriage between two equally compassionate and strong individuals. To have been raised and be continually supported by a mother who is both nurturing and assertive, who is an essential presence in her children's lives and in the work force, who is passionately well-read and educated, who is a comfort to me in hard times and a catalyst for my success in all parts of life, and more, as well as a father who is both courageous and sensitive, who actively prioritizes time with family over time at work, who has used his position of authority to advocate for patient access to care, who expresses affection consistently and frequently, and more, is a privilege for which I am so grateful.
When I think about the character of God, I find it inspiring that both man and woman were, together and collectively, deemed a more full human representation of deity. The Bible is filled with stories of women and men radically defying their culturally prescribed gendered roles in order to together better advance the gospel and share the news of God's love. We are at our most successful, most loving, most godlike when we intentionally and actively consider one another as equal partners in the human experience.
