For me personally, education has always been one of my top issues politically/socially and it is an issue that in one way or another, affects everyone at some point. It affects everyone, no matter if we’re talking about education inequality, to women and girls not having access to education in some areas of the world, to student loan debt, education affects every living person on Earth. Education even in rural parts of the world, when young people learn agricultural skills. The point is that everything you do, from chewing food to doing a math problem, to learning about history, you learn about it, and it is education.
Now as a new college student, I already have noticed how much college differs from high school. Along with that, it has opened my eyes and caused me to think about how education in our country and the world has changed over time. There have been points in history as well where it was illegal or forbidden for groups such as women and people of color in our country. We still even see that in many rural American communities, that young people, in particular young girls, do not have quality access to education. I am from a state in which we are known for small towns, and our big cities, from Atlanta to Edge Hill. We are known for being southern, and we have a lot of rural places in Georgia that also happen to lack in areas that other parts of the state flourishes in, and education is one of them.
The lack of education in rural America is a huge problem, but it disproportionately affects young women and girls. Most of our female leaders in the world aren’t from rural America but that has changed a lot recently. Here is a short story for young women in rural America who want to get involved but are hesitant, afraid, or worried they do not have access to the education others have, therefore they wanna sit on the sidelines.
There was once a little girl from Arkansas born in 1960. Her family was a family of farmers. She was born as a girl in the south in the sixties and early seventies, but one day she decided to run for Student Council President in high school, and she won. She attended college and after she finished, she wanted to go into public service and she had the opportunity to work for a Congressman. Despite being born in a time when women were still dependent on their husbands, she defied all odds and became a Congresswoman. A few years later, her title would be United States Senator from Arkansas, and her name is Blanche Lincoln. Despite the challenges of being a southern woman, with rural education, she was elected to the most prestigious legislative body in the world, the United States Senate.
Another short story goes like this; There was once a girl who was born in Idaho, but when she was very young her family relocated to the New Frontier, and the newest state, Alaska. She was a girl during a time where women began to find independence in themselves and find their own careers. She endured sexism herself, but she pressed forward and became a known high school athlete and pageant star. She took that and went to college and when she got back to Alaska, she was a sportscaster but felt like she had a higher purpose. in 1992 she was elected to her hometown of Wasilla’s City Council and four years later she became the Mayor. In 2006 she was elected as the first woman to be Governor of Alaska, and in 2008, the second woman behind Geraldine Ferraro to be on a major party presidential ticket in history. Her name is Sarah Palin.
If you find the passion to advocate and serve the people, even if you are from rural America, if you are educated you can do anything. Often girls from rural America feel less than others due to the fact that rural areas do not have access to as many things, but these women and many more have proved that women can be champions and voices from rural America.
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Zae Brewer
Freshman
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, GA
@zaebrewer