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Allison Fink's picture

Education

Submitted by Allison Fink on Tue, 12/11/2007 - 3:43am.
The reading is making me think a little more about what it means to be an educated woman in college. Women from the time period when Bryn Mawr was founded, such as Carey Thomas, seem to me to be very strong, heroic individuals, and it was inspiring to read about the great souls who oversaw the founding of the college, and their sense of mission in education for it to be an improvement on the other women’s colleges. Their society never told them that women were supposed to be strong. They already had such a strong sense of self that just made them assume that they could do whatever they wanted even though their society never expected of them. I honestly think that it’s sad but true that “Encouraging women to fulfill their potential was after all, still an incendiary practice in a sexist world. It could be argued that it remains one to this day.” (quoted from The Women of Summer) So, are women here really encouraged to fulfill their potential at Bryn Mawr? From my time here so far, which is short, I’m not sure yet. It seems that people need to have a lot of interest in something first, rather than just taking the exam or writing the paper for the grade and then not thinking about it anymore. I admit that I am used to doing things on that level, and so to leave something open ended and expect you to make learning your own and to do it because are self-motivated to work at something from your own interest, is something that I still need to adapt to. But I am optimistic that I can do that and in so doing, fulfill more of my potential, because to fulfilling one’s potential means being self motivated and self directed. And I am starting to get the sense here that it is up to you.

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