My Senior Project Part I

In my last semester here at BYU-Idaho, I have to do a "Senior Project". It sounds very juvenile and I feel like it is not enough time to do an adequate project. I also struggled with what I wanted to do exactly. What should I throw myself into for 140+ hours for the next 13 weeks? Well, I started looking into different things, gun control, voting, blah blah blah. But then Brother Lamoreaux reminded us that we should pick something we will enjoy doing. As I thought about it, what did I enjoy? First thing that came to my mind: Social Issues, specifically Women's Issues.

FALL 2008

Before I jump into more of project, let me give lay out the background. My first semester was fall 2008; I did not have a declared major. I was still trying to figure out what I want to do. I was sitting in the Clark building (a.k.a. the mommy major building). I had some foundations class and was sitting in the hall and I saw all these young pregnant girls and it freaked me out. I don't mean to offend anyone, I think motherhood and marriage are wonderful, but I have my concerns and if you knew me at 18 I had no desire to fulfill either of those commandments just yet. I wanted to be free, I just moved out of my parents' house! As I sat there, I thought I could not be in this building (ironically, my minor is Marriage and Family studies), so I thought about everything I liked. Well, I really liked my high school AP History, Government, and Washington State History class. What could I do with that? POLITICAL SCIENCE! I then went and changed my major.

MTC 2011

When I tell people what my major is, I get nervous. It sounds impressive, but it really is not. I am not very good at the theory behind it and reading the federalist/anti-federalist papers puts me to sleep. I however, love the social issues. I love learning about polices. I love the law and how we should look at issues from a law (not always moral) point of view. Being a political scientist, I have learned that I have an influence over issues. I love the methods and sociology behind it. I still did not know what I wanted to do. So....I took a "break" (a.k.a. a mission haha).

ALL GIRLS MATTER

On my mission, I came to understand, in a very simple way, about welfare programs, school laws, and other issues I had never thought about. I met amazing people, members and non members. I learned the government of the church and it was amazing! I love organization and following correct principles (call it bureaucracy, I call it fascinating). Coming home and starting with school was really hard. I had some struggles, but I took a state and local government class and I enjoyed it. I thought, if I want to be a mom one day, I want to be involved with local government. BECAUSE I would be able to influence my own community. I believe sometimes we focus too much on the federal government, but if we were involved in our local government we can see more change. The next semester I took a feminism class and I LOVED it. Before I was one of those people who thought feminists were man hating, bra burning, hippie, hairy women. But ITS NOT! Its so much more. To me, its not about equality but opportunity. I am the oldest and a girl in my family, and to think if I lived in a developing nation, my education would not be important. My health would not be important. My voice would not be important. I would not be important. I would be married off at the age of 16 to an older guy who was my distant cousin and I would be expected to birth sons and if I didn't, it would be my fault. There is so much more to the issue, but that is just a tiny synopsis.

#TRUTH

When feminism comes up around people, I try not to make it awkward because I know comments people make, its because they do not understand. But I am a feminist! I am a feminist because I believe in women-hood. I do not think women are better than man, but should be equals. I also believe that men should not have to fit a stereotype. My dream would be to work with a non profit helping women. I have so many strong examples of women in my life and I want to be that example to other women. I want to show women they can be more than a statistic or a stereotype. That they are beautiful and smart and capable. I want women to feel the love of a Heavenly Father.

Now what you all are waiting for: my senior project. I am writing eight different public policies on women's issues. Ranging from Female genital mutilation, sex trafficking, and abortion. And I really want to share what I learn here on my blog, because I want these issues to be known, I want people to understand that even though they live in the United States and "those" people live somewhere that it is acceptable, which is false. The things some of these women go through are terrible and should never go through. We need to be aware of social issues and not act like they do not matter. Hope you enjoy the ride!