When I was a young girl, I wanted to be an educator and a professor of literature and sciences. I was always an eclectic student, driven by curiosity and the desire to learn new things. My grandmother was undoubtedly the strongest influence and role model for me as my ‘life’ educator; she taught me the importance of achieving a high education, to laugh often, and always keep a good sense of humour. Reflecting on the various stages of my life so far, I realize that most of my influencers and motivators were and still are strong, talented, vivacious women: self-directed, curious, honest, energetic, passionate, and highly individual.

It was through my grandmother’s insightful stories that I realized early on about the existence of gender-specific stereotypes. She had endured through difficult times and faced gender-biased situations: as an example, when she was nine, she was pulled out of school, to take care of household chores and to support the family and her 7 brothers, that were building their own military and professional careers. Nevertheless she never stopped self-learning and never doubted her own innate capacities.

I have been lucky so far in that I haven’t experienced bias as a hindrance or an advantage in my education and career development.
I take the initiative with or without the help of others guided by my strong intrinsic motivation to learn and grow every day, and by believing that we are nested into something larger. Connectedness is my ethos: it means I employ my free will to develop an independent perspective (connect to myself), I invest time to form relationships with emotional depth (connect to people and groups), and, build bridges to solve challenges and help others understand how our efforts fit into the bigger picture (connect to purpose).

Don’t try to be more like others or to fit in. The big difference comes from unleashing in the world the energy and passion that comes from our true authentic selves: allow time to understand yourself deeply and express your uniqueness everywhere. Nobody can be you. There is only one of you.