My Dream is to empower and educate women and children around the world

When I was a young girl, a friend's father and I had a conversation. In that conversation I was told that women can only excel in certain areas and are limited in all areas. I had never heard this opinion before, and I felt angry and determined to change it. As I grew older I realized that this opinion was fairly widespread. I also realized that you cannot change someone’s opinion, but you can change the educational experiences that may have led to that opinion in the first place. My dream is to educate and empower women and children. For centuries women have been given a societal/ cultural role, and have been expected to fill it. This restricts their education, limits their abilities, and does not provide opportunities to excel in areas beyond societal expectations. This limits their ability to dream dreams. I believe that education is the key to empowerment. Education allows you to see things differently, and to dream of a life that is different from your own. All women deserve to be active members of their communities, and to be involved in changes that affect them. Education provides the belief that they deserve to be part of these activities. These changes must begin in childhood. True cultural change, and an extreme shift in thinking occur most effectively in childhood. I was lucky. Even though I was a child I knew that the opinion that was being told to me was incorrect. Instead of feeling trapped in my own femininity, I felt angry and determined to change this belief. Other children are not so lucky. These are the children that deserve to experience education, change, and to be given the right to dream.