Being a modern day woman I never imagined facing so much gender disparity or discrimination. I never imagined that I’d be looked down on in class or overlooked by classmates or teachers solemnly based off of gender. In the state of Texas woman are facing the scary and horrifying fact that we will always be put last. Our beliefs, feelings, thoughts and literal bodily autonomy are not taken into consideration anymore and it isn’t fair, it’s not the progress that I would like to see be made nor is it making me feel any safer here in this state leading me to find a greater interest in women’s history, mental health and social rights, so much that I added a second major to my college degree plan, which is women’s and gender studies. In all honesty I had never thought too much about women’s rights nor did I ever imagine majoring in a part of it in college until I got old enough to realize the big injustices that were beginning to take place, not only were they unfair But they were inhumane. Reading articles and watching the news opened my perspective, seeing my own rights being taken away so easily hurt me, it made me feel so small inside and as if I didn’t matter to my country or the state that I called home, everyone refers to American life as the dream yet women are underrepresented in so many fields and are mistreated in the healthcare department. My personal goal in life is to go to law school, I’ve recently just finished the first three classes of my bachelor’s degree and I don’t graduate from high school for another two weeks yet I can confidently say that college and law school is where I belong and a major in women’s studies has only raised that passion and love I feel towards my education. Aside from the news and my personal feelings about gender disparity in texas, my greatest motivation for fighting these injustices is my younger sister. My sister is about four years younger than me but she is my best friend in the whole world, we are the only two family members that are close so we are practically all each other has. She has referred to me several times as her motivation and role model and when she does, I feel that I have truly done my job as her older sister and hearing her passion for topics such as women’s health, makes me even prouder. I feel that I have expressed my beliefs and also allowed her to express her own and taught her well enough that people do have conflicting views but that does not make her voice any less important. I want to see my quiet and timid fourteen year old sister stand up for herself, and to see her ask questions and be confident is who she is and what she wants to do without having the pressure of society telling her she is wrong, and I feel that goring to school and furthering that kind of example is what needs to be done. So, through my educational journey I plan to motivate those around me and those that I love, I also plan to use my college degree to support myself in going to law school and truly beginning to leave my mark on social injustices for women, I want to make women feel loved, I want them to feel that they not only have someone on their side and that their opinions and choices matter even against our own government.

My favorite song on Taylor Swift’s 5th album 1989, is titled “This Love”. This song is all about falling in and out of love plus the uncertainties that come with love in general. “This Love” also explains how there is no sure and definite way of knowing how things will work out, the only way is to simply jump in and try your best. While this song is of course about the feeling of love, I also personally associate it with life in general. All my life I have always had a plan for my future. I graduated from community college this past December then started the first three courses of my bachelors degree, and I still have yet to graduate from high school but I am already scared. My biggest fear is to fail in college, not graduate early or not get into a good enough graduate school and as scared as I am, I know my passions for my education are my greatest love, which means I have no other choice but to just go for it. Aside from my education, my friends and younger sister are my other great loves and just as Taylor swift says in this song, “you showed up just in time” and that is how I feel for my friends and younger sister, without whom I would have no motivation to even go to school. I’m the chorus of this song, Taylor makes it’s known that every fallout leaves a mark on her, My family isn’t close, my family is in fact full of arguments and empty promises on each side, so as I grew up I began to understand and relate to those fallout marks but, my friends are my family and I am the closest person to my sister which makes her my greatest inspiration and my friends, my greatest support system, they “showed up just in time” and their “love left a permanent mark” just as Taylor said halfway through her song. In a few months, half of the people I know and love will be moving away after high school graduation and of course I am beyond proud and exited for each of them, I want them to go and better their futures but at the same time there is a tiny selfish part of me that just wishes I could ask them to stay, that part of me even wishes I could force them to stay but in the chorus of “This love” we also hear that love shouldn’t be forced, if something is meant to be then it will come back to you and I know that my own future will soon start to work out and I have faith everything and everyone will come back to me in some sort of way if they really are the people for me. In connection, “This Love” by Taylor Swift is my favorite song on her “1989” album because it teaches listeners the importance and delicate meaning of true love and I have learned to associate love with several different things and people in my life.