"You Can't go to College, You're a Girl" by Sharifa

"You Can't go to College, You're a Girl" by Sharifa - April 2019 Scholarship Essay

“What’re you gonna do at the movies? You’re a girl,” “What do you mean you want to hang out with your friends, just stay home and help me cook and clean,” “If you can’t keep the house neat, a man will never want to marry you.” These were just some of the things I have heard from my old-fashioned, Muslim, Somalian mother and father. I try my very best not to judge them because, unlike me, they did not grow up in a country where women could do, feel, and say whatever their hearts desire. I still sometimes became very frustrated with who they wanted me to be. I always felt obligated to act or dress in a certain way. Not only are my parents very straight-minded, but they are also very religious people, and have placed high standards of morals for my siblings and me.
Although I was surrounded by uncles, aunts, and cousins who tried to inform me of what an “ideal” woman was, there was one person who really inspired me to believe that females were more than what my parents made of them. This person was my Kindergarten teacher. Although she started as my teacher, she is currently the founder of an organization that offers support and assistance to families who are new to the country and to illiterate adults and children. Yes, we are still very close to this day and I do not know what I or my family would have done without her presence.
The last time I saw her, she went on and on about the first time we met. My family, at the time, were new to America and were not living in the best conditions. I remember living in a two bedroom apartment in Dallas, Texas with my six brothers and one older sister; we all slept on one mattress while my parents slept in the room next door. When we moved to Richardson, it was a step up, but it was not all that great because we had little to nothing furniture. I remember my Kindergarten teacher telling me how I walked into her classroom, soaking wet and cold, crying because I had just fallen in a puddle of water and did not have a coat. That first day she decided to have a discussion with my father, asking if she has his permission to take me out for clothes. Happily, my father accepted.
As time went on, my teacher and I became very close. There were summers when she would take me along on trips to see and help out others that were new to the United States. Being able to meet families who came from a similar background that I not only reminds me of who I am and where I came from, but has taught me to be more diligent because working to my very best potential, could not only prove to my old-fashioned parents that I was made for more than cleaning tools, but could influence other young girls to know that they have a choice and a say to what their future looks like.
I no longer thought that my only purpose was to set the stage for a man and my kindergarten teacher was no longer just the lady who taught me how to write my S’s the right way, she was the person who taught me that even though I came from literally having nothing, I still had potential to be much more than what I thought.

scholarship : Families who came from a similar background that I not only reminds me of who I am and where I came from, but has taught me to be more diligent because working to my very best potential, could influence other young girls to know that they have a choice and a say to what their future looks like. I am eager learn, not just for myself but for my parents who threw themselves in a new world to better my life.