DAY THREE: Define yourself

 BREAK THE GLASS CEILING...

During the course of my Masters program, I focused on being the best in all that I did through my academics and being the only African girl amongst the other few white ladies amidst a class outnumbered by gentlemen.

The set up of the courses of my master's program was so tight that it demanded maximum effort and dedication for better grades so, In the course of the struggle, I remember having a male friend who also happened to be close to me, and he realized how I studied so tough with a zeal to make the best out of my academics.

With all his observations, one day he told me I was so assertive just like a man...gosh😊😊, this sounded like an insult to me though he said it jokingly. I had to take it as a joke too. Though one day, I asked him why he said that and he simply says that it was because of my assertiveness and confidence in how I handled my academic roles.

Am sure many ladies have encountered similar cases where your self-esteem has been mistaken into something else negatively, but women should not let society define them, instead of defining ourselves.

As women we often feel as if asking for what we want, a.k.a. being assertive, is a bad thing. Though there are always times when self-assertiveness requires courage, no matter how high your self-esteem.

LESSON: Allow yourself to explore and bring the best out of you without any fear moreso engaging in STEM-related careers because for me this birthed out an initiative called ShehaSTEM to empower the young girls to take up the STEM careers and be motivated to break up those myths about girls taking up such careers. TAKE COURAGE...